The Morichika Family- Rinnosuke and His Wives
by zhaojinlong4
Summary: When the shopkeeper of Kourindou: Morichika Rinnosuke get married, everything around the ladies and himself has changed a lot. Notice: I do not own any characters or anything else about the story, the copyright of this fiction belongs to pixiv ID コハクスキー and the copyright of the translation belongs to TigorisTranslates.
1. Ch1 Polygynous Marriage

Hello everyone, I'm Rinnosuke Morichika.

The winter is drawing to an end and the snows have stopped. We're entering the month of April, but there is still a lingering chill in the air. How are you faring in this weather? I imagine most people would stay inside, but there are others who are setting out on long treks to distant places.

So - April. April means spring. Spring is associated with cherry blossoms, but more generally spring means a time of transition into a new stage of life. Children graduating from elementary school, young adults leaving home to begin living on their own - moving into a new home with new furniture and starting a new life - it's a period of excitement and uncertainty.

I'm in that same situation. I'm filled with uncertainty as well.

Actually...

Rinnosuke "Haa~..."

All I can feel is uncertainty. Because I'm...

Keine "Rinnosuke, should we take a break?"

Rinnosuke "I suppose so."

With her...

Tokiko "Rinnosuke, what kind of book would be good for a baby?"

Ran "Rather than a difficult book it would be best to go with a picture book."

Chen "Isn't this rattle a bit too loud?"

And them...

Kasen "Can I set this here?"

Kagerou "I hope the child doesn't have thick hair like mine."

Sekibanki "I got beanbags!"

Seija "Wow, that's lame!"

And them as well.

It's a bit embarrassing to talk about, but... I'm actually married to all of them. Keine, Tokiko, Ran, Chen, Kasen, Seija, Sekibanki, and Kagerou. And not just them, also Yamame, Alice, Yuugi, Akyuu, Kosuzu, Mitori, Yuuga, and Sanae. 16 women in total.

If you were wondering how it is that I found myself married to so many women, in essence it was due to my own curiosity and lack of forethought. I decided to try something from a book from the outside, and my attempt at it failed spectacularly. However... it seems I was the only one who thought it had failed, as it had worked on Keine and the others (who I had tested it on).

After that their attitudes changed completely. I thought they were just avoiding me, but as it turns out they were just embarrassed and uncertain of how to face me after what had happened. However with them avoiding me I had no way of clearing up the misunderstanding, and so I finally went to Eirin for advice. She was older than me and had plenty of experience to draw on, so perhaps she could share some advice.

But that was wrong. It was a mistake to even try asking her for help.

She produced a medicine and gave it to Sanae. Given the situation it was unlikely that Sanae would take anything from me, so they held a banquet at the Moriya Shrine as a way to get us all to repair our relationships. I had no idea the medicine was mixed in the food that was served.

Eirin had said the medicine would loosen us up and make us less nervous so we could talk, but... well, in essence it was an aphrodisiac. As the women drank and ate they began to feel hot and their behavior changed. Their cheeks flushed and their bodies heated up as their minds went blank and their eyelids drooped as if they were half asleep. And of course Eirin's medicine worked on all manner of creatures. Thanks to my half-yokai nature I didn't feel the effects as strongly, but as Yuugi continued to push drink after drink at me I began to feel the effects.

I think it goes without saying what happens when men and women are together and under the effects of an aphrodisiac. When the aphrodisiac is made by Eirin it's only worse.

By that point the women had overdosed on aphrodisiac - and they came for me. Fortunately I still had my wits about me, but unfortunately the medicine was making it difficult for me to move. Even if I could move I was facing 15 women. Without the aphrodisiac's effects I could perhaps do something to handle each of the women individually, but against all 15 at once I was physically outmatched - and that's ignoring their supernatural abilities.

The exits were sealed and my body held down. As they took turns with me the last bit of reason I had was extinguished. The drug kept me from feeling fatigue as I kept going and going... until eventually my senses were completely blanked. Even then my body continued to move.

A harem is not something to envy. A bunch of women filled with lust and only a single man to satisfy them all. It was a festival of debauchery. It might be enjoyable if done for a short time, but Eirin's drug kept us going for hours and hours. No sooner was one woman temporarily satisfied than the next was coming back for more. And even if the sole man should cum he would have to keep going regardless.

And if you're still not grasping just how long this went on, let me make it clear - it wasn't just all night or for a full day. It was _several days_. Several days of endless sex without stopping to rest or eat. Regardless of the time of day we never stopped for more than a minute or two. The Moriya Shrine was the worst to suffer. We weren't just nearby - we were inside of the shrine. Day after day we carried on, making it impossible for any of the normal shrine business to occur. Eventually Luna Child blanked out the noise coming from inside.

I didn't regain control of myself until after the drug wore off. When I finally opened my eyes the sun was high in the sky and the event was over. I looked around and found that I was surrounded by all of the women without a single stitch of clothing on. They were all asleep - and they seemed to be quite satisfied. The room was filled with the mixed smells of sweat, aphrodisiac, and various other scents.

Sanae told me what happened after I lost consciousness. It felt like only hours had passed, but... to think it had been days. The women remembered everything. Their memories were a bit fuzzy... but they remembered. Unlike me, they lost their control but did not lost consciousness. They were aware from start to finish. And poor Akyuu... thanks to her power she had the most vivid memories of all.

The atmosphere was awkward during breakfast. None of us said a word, and I didn't dare look any of them in the eye. None of us felt particularly eager to eat, but our bodies were craving sustenance after several days of non-stop activity.

To be blunt, it was not our fault that this had happened. The fault was entirely with Eirin and her drug. But... if you traced her actions back that meant it was really my fault. My fault for putting us all on awkward footing to begin with.

Surprisingly the women didn't seem all that upset. They had been conscious throughout so they didn't try to place blame on anyone. It seems that they accepted that in the end they had been doing just as much as I had, so they each took responsibility for their own actions.

I didn't feel that way. I felt that my actions had caused what happened, and so I wanted to find a way to clear my conscience. Sanae then suggested that I give them each a present. Something I made with my own hands. When asked what they would like, all of the women said a ring.

Fortunately there was plenty of metal at the Kourindou. I took the various scraps and melted them down to get remove impurities, then used the purified metal to craft rings. Kourindou had the materials and I had the skills to get it done.

I kept my tired body going as I crafted each of the rings. For some reason I decided to make one for Sanae as well.

A few months passed before one of the women discovered she was pregnant.

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe what I heard, but as I looked at the obvious swelling of her stomach it was clear that it was true. And that wasn't all. She then asked about us getting married. I was having a hard time answering her, but then the rest of the women that I had presented rings to came forward to also request that I marry them.

With such a large group of women pressing in on me - and with my children possibly growing inside of all of them - I couldn't possibly refuse. My life as a bachelor came to a very firm and final end.

A wedding for one man and 16 women was of course such a strange occurence that Shameimaru quickly filled the newspapers with the story - complete with a large photo of all of us. Everyone in Gensoukyou soon knew about us. The wedding was held at Moriya Shrine and many humans and youkai gathered for the event. I hadn't expected it, but all of the women wore white kimono for the ceremony. They even did their hair in the traditional style - though those with horns or ears on the top of their head, such as Tokiko and Chen, had difficulty with the ornamental hair dressings. At one point Seija got fed up with them and ripped off her hair ornaments and threw them away.

Sanae was leading the proceedings, though today she was dressed in a kimono as well instead of shrine maiden garb. The two gods of the shrine watched with odd expressions. Before those two gods we all swore to love each other eternally. I then gave them their rings once more and kissed them. Considering what we had already done together, kissing each of the girls in front of a crowd was hardly something to be embarrassed about. Most of the onlookers wished us well, but there were some that muttered bitterly as they judged us.

In any event, part of me just wanted to get away from there as fast as possible. Ran sensed how I was feeling and created a bouquet of flowers. She announced that the person to catch it would be the next to marry, then lobbed it into the crowd. A fair number of people leapt for the bouquet - a large portion of them single women - and for a short time the crowd was thrown into chaos. During this period Ran transformed into her ninetailed form. We all climbed onto her back or took hold of one of her tales before she vanished us from the shrine like a sudden gust of wind. She took us all around Gensoukyou for good measure.

In the outside world a newlywed couple will attach cans to the back of their car so that as they drive away they announce their marriage and ward away misfortune. Well, all of Gensoukyou already knew about our marriage, and I doubted that any sort of misfortune would ever dare come near this group of women. We didn't need the cans.

Though the wedding ceremony was over there was still the reception. We celebrated our union at the Moriya Shrine, the festivities lasting all night. I was having a hard time feeling festive, given that I'd suddenly found 16 partners with whom to share the rest of my life. We would have to do a lot of work if we were to all live together. They certainly couldn't all fit into the Kourindou.

That's how I found myself building a house for us.

Akyuu provided the land for us. If we built the house amongst the humans it would result in youkai living amongst them, which would obviously be less than ideal. I don't think I could stand seeing the girls that had come to be my friends looked at as something to fear. But outside of the town youkai were everywhere - and some of them would wish to harm us. The youkai like Ran would be fine, since they could protect themselves, but the humans with no ability to fight like Akyuu and Kosuzu would be at risk. The Forest of Magic was out of the question.

Luckily Akyuu had an idea for a place we could go. It was a bit outside of the human village, but ultimately it was the ideal place to build a house. The youkai weren't as plentiful there and we'd have access to plenty of animals and wild vegetation. Apparently we'd even be able to look out across the village from there.

The land was not only part of the Hieda family holdings, but apparently Hieda no Are had once lived there. When Are was reincarnated as Aichi the Hieda home was moved to its current location and the land was no longer used. However they felt that the land would serve a purpose at some point and kept it.

We went to the site to see it with our own eyes and found a dilapidated ruin that had formerly been a house. A quick look around gave the impression that it was a sizeable piece of land. The foundation of the house was still solid and we had access to plenty of lumber. The well was also intact. It was almost as if the land had been waiting for someone to come back to it.

Before beginning work I needed to get Akyuu's permission. The house that Are had lived in all those years ago wasn't stable enough to be used in any way, meaning that it would have to be cleared away before we could begin building. But I needed Akyuu's permission before I dared to remove anything. After all, if you went back far enough Akyuu was Are, so it would be nice to have the permission of the former owner of the house before I began to work.

Akyuu (Are) "I understand. It's okay."

Akyuu gave me permission. But her voice was not the voice of the 9th generation of the Hieda family, it was the voice of Are.

With that settled I got right to work. I'd already prepared plans. When it became clear that we'd all need to live together - and that the Kourindou would not suffice - we concluded that a new house would have to be built. Before we had even secured land to use I asked each of them what they would want included in the new house. I used their requests to create the layout and building plans for the house, because I was certainly not going to wing it and risk hearing complaints for the rest of my life.

This project had to be the most difficult task I'd ever attempted. The size of the house was far beyond the scale of the Kourindou and was possibly even larger than the primary school building. The Kourindou was fairly quick and easy to construct as I hadn't needed much, but this was completely different. The rebuilding of the school building had been fairly large-scale as well, but ultimately the building was mostly large empty classrooms. The building I was constructing now would have to be an actual house - a home. And a home for more than 10 people. That increased the scale significantly. On top of that each of the women would have her own specific needs, which would add more work for each of their living spaces.

It soon became obvious to me that regardless of species or age all women are greedy and selfish in one respect or another. Make a place like this for drinking, make a garden like this, make a quiet place, etc... and as they heard each others requests they began to build on each other and inspire new ideas for further additions. If nobody stopped them they'd come up with an endless flood of new ideas. At this rate we'd need a house like the Scarlet Devil Mansion to fit everything.

I eventually convinced them to refrain from adding on anything more, though it was certainly difficult to do. If I wasn't careful I could not only end up with 16 unsatisfied and angry women, but I might end up sparking an accident. If that should happen it wouldn't be just me that suffered, but likely all of Gensoukyou would be in danger and it was unlikely that Reimu and the others would be able to stop it.

As for the construction, I wouldn't be doing it on my own. This was a home for all of us, so they'd be coming to assist when they could. Though the girls like Keine and Akyuu had so much to do that they'd likely never be able to come help.

So my assistants for now are...

Nitori "I've come to help, partner!"

Suika "With me here you have the strength of a million men."

Nitori and Suika.

Nitori "Oh, right. I guess partner is a bit weird now? Should I call you onii-chan now?"

Nitori was happy about her older half-sister Mitori's marriage.

Suika "I can't believe Yuugi got married~"

*Text says "Suika" not "Yuugi," but I assume it's a typo.

Suika was surprised to learn that her friend and fellow Deva of the Mountain Yuugi had married someone, but she too was happy about the development.

I was glad to have the two with me. Suika especially was a great help. Suika could make herself larger or split off into countless smaller forms to run about and help us. With her strength and her abilities we were able to get all of the lumber moved and begin setting up the frame in a short time. The only thing she lacked was technical skill, which Nitori and myself were able to provide.

Ran and Alice were able to send assistance through their shikigami and dolls, meaning they could help us even if they couldn't make it personally. With all of their help the work went smoothly.

Rinnosuke "Whew..."

We reached a good stopping point in our work and took a break.

Keine "Here, a towel."

Rinnosuke "Thanks."

I took the towel from her.

Keine "How much longer do you think it will take?"

Rinnosuke "Well... I'm not certain, but if we keep this pace it will be another 2-3 months perhaps?"

Keine "You can finish that fast!?"

Rinnosuke "Well I'm not sure, but hopefully..."

I couldn't blame her for being surprised. It was truly fast. I initially feared it would take us years to complete the construction, but with Suika and the others helping we were making steady progress.

Normally we'd have needed heavy machinery to flatten the ground for the foundation, but Suika could simply enlarge herself and stamp the ground flat and firm with her foot. Her smaller splits were able to quickly carry and assemble the lumber to form the frame of the house, although when technical skill was required we'd have to come assist or finish the job.

Despite this, I was honestly feeling a bit worried.

Rinnosuke "Keine, are you feeling okay?"

Keine "I'm fine, I'm fine. I can still move around."

Keine's stomach was swollen with her pregnancy. Seeing her stomach swell day after day as our child grew inside of her made it impossible for me to feel comfortable with her helping us, even if she was only doing minor tasks on the periphery.

Rinnosuke "Are you sure? If you feel uneasy at all I don't want you to force yourself to stick around."

Keine "I know. Really, I do."

She smiled as she rubbed a hand on her stomach. Eirin said next month would be the final month of her pregnancy.

Now I imagine some of you may be confused. I can guess why that would be and I'm not really surprised.

"Why is Keine pregnant?" is what you were wondering, right? Of course she would be. We did what causes pregnancy, after all. When a man puts his thing inside of a girl's thing and ejaculates semen inside, the sperm cells made in the man's testicles will seek out an ovum produced by the girl's ovaries to fertilize. That fertilized zygote will then grow and develop into a baby. I'm sure you all knew that already.

So I'm guessing the part that is confusing is how she's reached this state in just a few months. And I'll add to that confusion by saying that she's not alone - Mitori, Kagerou, and Sekibanki are just as pregnant as Keine is.

And some of the others have already given birth. Alice, Kasen, Yuugi, Seija, and ... have already birthed their children.

I was surprised too. Typically it takes somewhere from 9-10 months for a child to be born, but so far none of them have taken that long. Eirin was surprised as well. We couldn't believe it was possible, so we had Momiji check for us - and the children developing inside were completely healthy and looked ready to be born.

Perhaps it was another effect of Eirin's drug.

Eirin "Who knows?"

Was the only reply she gave when I asked her about it.

I had wondered if perhaps it had something to do with the different races and my own half-youkai nature that somehow caused it... but Yamame, Kosuzu, and Yuuka were all different races but were all similarly showing no obvious signs of pregnancy yet. So it seemed unlikely that it had to do with race - either theirs or mine.

So is it because we're in Gensoukyou? I wasn't as bad as Sanae, but I felt that I should perhaps have learned more about Gensoukyou to know if this was a possibility or not. But... it seemed difficult to say that Gensoukyou had caused the short pregnancies. Myself and Mitori were evidence against that hypothesis. Mitori had taken the normal period of time to be born, and I recalled having heard from my mother that I had taken 9-10 months to be born as well. So aside from my wives all evidence pointed at that being the normal pregnancy period.

In the end we never could figure out why the pregnancies were so short. My wives were all healthy and our children were all healthy, so I suppose it doesn't really matter.

I cared about the wellbeing of my wives, but I really didn't have the time to be too concerned with the present. I needed to be planning for the future.


	2. Ch2 Keine and Ran

When talking about the future for our group it's obvious that getting married, being pregnant, and giving birth would all have a huge impact on how we live our lives. Let's take a look at how life is changing for each of the women.

Keine and Ran

Two days ago.

Keine "That's all for our lesson today."

Keine had continued to teach at the school after becoming pregnant. Even when the swelling of her stomach made it difficult to walk or even to stand up, she still continued to teach.

Normally she would have been given maternity leave for her own sake and for the health of the child, but it was Keine's desire to continue working. Still, it was hard not to worry about the child growing inside of her.

Keine "With myself and Rinnosuke as its parents, I'm sure it can handle this."

Eirin's health checks showed no signs of complications, so Keine's reasoning seemed solid enough.

However... the size of her stomach had certainly made it more difficult for her to not only work at her job, but also to take care of household chores. Seeing this, Ran began to help out. It was still unclear if Ran was pregnant or not, so her body showed no signs of pregnancy and she was able to act as normal. It wouldn't do for Ran to take over all of the chores, however, as that could lead to Keine gaining excessive weight and increase the dangers to her child. To that end Ran helped to an extent that Keine could still do some measure of work.

Student B "Wow, sensei, your belly is so big!"

Keine "Of course it is, I'm pregnant."

The children were fascinated by the swelling of Keine's stomach. While they had learned of pregnancy from books it was an entirely different thing to see a pregnant woman in person.

Student A "So there's a baby in there?"

Keine "That's right."

Student O "Can I touch it, sensei?"

Keine "It's okay, but be gentle. You don't want to surprise the baby."

The students cautiously leaned in towards her stomach to place their ears against her. After several had rested their heads against her belly a soft thud sounded from inside. The baby had moved.

Student I "It moved! It moved! It just moved!"

Student A "No way!"

Student I "I'm serious!"

Keine "See? The baby's really in there. When you were all babies you too were inside of your mothers like this. You'll all experience this again once your adults, so pay close attention."

Students ""Yes sensei!""

The students cheerfully replied.

Student K "Will we get like this too?"

One of the male students asked.

Keine "Boys don't get pregnant."

She softly flicked his forehead.

Nevertheless, having so much extra body weight made it difficult not only to work and keep up with chores around the house, but it also made flying more challenging. Instead of making it easier to manage the new weight, flying only exhausted Keine further. Though she did spend more time sitting while teaching she never let her fatigue show on her face.

Ran "How are you feeling, Keine?"

Ran had been waiting outside of the school building for Keine to exit.

Just as every day before, Ran had come to the school to check on Keine's health. She had been a mother of sorts for myself and Keine in the past, so she understood the challenges that Keine was facing. While she had never carried a child inside of herself or given birth, she still understood the difficulties of raising a child. The obstacles, pains, and joys.

Keine "I'm doing well enough. I can still move around."

Ran "Don't push yourself. It's good that you're keeping active, but don't overdo it."

Keine "I know that. Still, I'm happy. I can finally give birth to Rinnosuke's child. I'm going to be a mother."

Ran "I'll become a real mother one day too. Then we can be mothers together. Mothers, friends, and family."

Keine "Hahaha, that we will."

Being a mother was certainly difficult. The difficulties never really ended, there were no breaks, and there was no wage paid for the work. Still, Keine would be able to overcome all of that. She would never cast her child aside and abandon it as her own mother had done to her.

And Ran had raised Keine to be the woman she was today, so Keine was certain that Ran would be an excellent mother as well.

Long ago, before she had come to Gensoukyou from the outside world, Ran had done whatever she pleased. Some of those things were of such a scale that they were listed in history books - and they made what Seija had done look cute in comparison. She had watched innocent men, women, and children die while she laughed.

China, India, and Japan were her stomping grounds. When danger grew she would move to a new area, seduce and possess a man of power, and then continue on her way. Eventually she was sealed and taken to Gensoukyou by Yukari to become a shikigami. At first she could only feel displeasure at becoming slave instead of master, so she fought against Yukari even though she was a shikigami. Nobody could imagine the Ran of that time as being a mother.

It was said that becoming a mother changed a woman, and in Ran's case that was true. When she had first begun to look after myself and Keine she was nothing like her current self. She had a foul attitude and her words were filled with anger and hatred. She treated us like pests that were in her way.

But as time passed and we spent more time living together, Ran began to calm down. She became more skilled at household chores until she was keeping up with everything easily. The laundry was scrubbed clean, her cooking failures became few and far between, and the barbs that filled her words faded away. Even her expression softened with time. Eventually seeing her clad in an apron and looking motherly was completely natural.

Ran "But you've never raised a child. Shall I teach you again?"

Keine "I... I'm fine. I can raise a child or two."

Ran "Is that so? I'm not so sure..."

Keine "Truly, I'll be fine. I'm sure."

And I'm sure she's right. Both of them are sure to be fine mothers.

Keine "After all... you raised me."

I've watched them both for long enough to know.


	3. Ch3 Yuugi and Mitori

This is the Underworld. It was once a part of hell, but with the passage of time it fell into disuse. Eventually those who were hated or guilty of some sin began to drift down and live within the Underworld, and over time they developed their own society - thus the Former Capital was formed.

There within the Former Capital was a building. The area around the building was filled with signs that sprouted from the ground and walls like mushrooms - signs that warned trespassers away. The signs made it clear to the denizens of the Underworld who lived here, and not a single one of them dared to approach the building. There were rules in the Underworld. Even if it was simply a hole in the ground, if a place was claimed by someone it was left undisturbed by others as much as possible. Everyone had their own space and drew an invisible line around it. That was the unspoken rule of the Underworld. The resident of this building had decided to make it easier for everyone involved by placing signs to mark their territory. Even mail deliveries did not intrude beyond that line - mail was left in a box outside and automatically transported in. That's how much the people of the Underworld wished to avoid contact with others.

She was in the building that lay beyond the signs.

Kawashiro Mitori. Her hair was more pink than red, tied up in her trademark side-tail. A lock stood out on the front of her red shirt, and on her back she carried a bag filled with more signs. She is the older sister of Kawashiro Nitori and one of the few half-yokai in Gensoukyou. Because of her nature she was disliked by both humans and kappa, leaving her with nowhere to live but down here in the Underworld.

She always has a sour look on her face. Her smiles are rare, and even when she eats food that she finds delicious her expression doesn't change. Though she will say "That was good," her expression made her words feel empty.

Mitori "Mnfufu"

But it was different now.

As she did her work she smiled widely and rubbed a hand idly across her stomach.

Yuugi "What are you grinning about?"

Her friend Yuugi came up from behind and lightly placed a hand on Mitori's back.

Mitori "Uwa! N-N-N-Nothing! I'm not grinning!"

Yuugi "You were. Anything that isn't a sour look is easy to spot on your face. "

Mitori "Ugh... And hey, if you're coming at least ring the bell first! If you sneak up behind me of course I'm going to be scared!"

Yuugi "Yeah, I did. No matter how many times I rang it I got no response, so I let myself in."

Mitori "Oh... crap. I was so focused on my work I must not have heard it."

Yuugi "I guess I understand why you were grinning, even if you won't tell me."

Yuugi turned to look over her shoulder. Strapped to a carrier on her back was a baby. The baby had silver hair and small horns growing from its forhead. It was sucking on a finger as it slept soundly on Yuugi's back.

Yuugi "I never once thought that I would be a mother."

Mitori "Your case was particularly spectacular."

Yuugi became pregnant before Mitori, but she didn't realize her condition at all. Seeing all of the other women with their swelling stomachs while Yuugi's stomach remained the same size as always, she had assumed she wasn't pregnant. Because of this she never even went to see Eirin for a check.

But then one day, at the usual bar after having a few drinks, she stood up to pay her bill and something fell from between her legs. She stepped back to see what it was and found a baby with its umbilical cord still attached laying underneath her - the cord stretching up towards Yuugi's own body.

Yuugi "Oh no, Mitori... I just had a baby."

Mitori "PFFFFFFFF!"

Mitori, who had been seated next to Yuugi, spat a mouthful of her drink in her surprise.

The other youkai in the bar turned at the noise Mitori made and stared dumbfounded at the bundle in Yuugi's arms. The atmosphere changed from cheerful sociability to confusion.

"Is Yuugi holding a baby?!" "Is that onee-san's baby!?" "It can't be!" "Who is the father!?" "That's one of those half-youkai I saw in the paper!" "You have to be joking!" "Forget about that, call an ambulance! Hurry!" "There aren't any ambulances down here! And nobody is going to bring one down here!" "There aren't ambulances anywhere in Gensoukyou!" "A doctor then! Someone call a doctor!" "There aren't any real doctors down here!"

Mitori "Bring hot water! Hot water in a wash basin!"

"I'm getting it now!" "Hey, the baby isn't crying... it's not breathing!"

Mitori "H-H-H-Hurry and spank it on the back or the butt! Make it cry!"

"Someone go to the surface and find us a doctor!" "Let's just take Yuugi to the surface!" "Go get a cart for her!" "You got it!"

Yuugi "Would you all shut up!"

After that Mitori used the tranceiver to contact her sister Nitori, who then contacted Shameimaru and told her to get to the bar. Drawn by the promise of an exclusive scoop, Shameimaru rushed to the bar and found the kind of scene she dreamed of unfolding before her eyes. When she tried to take a photo Mitori stopped her, and then Yuugi punched her for good measure. After that they rushed Yuugi and her baby to the Eientei.

Eirin was just as shocked as everyone else. Who could have expected this to happen. While Eirin knew such a thing was a possibility, she would never have thought to see it occur in real life.

Yuugi had been just as pregnant as the others. But oni are born tough, unlike other youkai. And on top of that Yuugi was a drinker who trained her body. If she didn't keep up with her training her body would have grown weak from her drinking. Only a handful knew of the intense training routine that Yuugi maintained.

Yuugi's clothes hide it, but her abdominal muscles are powerful and toned, so even when her pregnancy entered the final stages she still didn't show the typical lump. She didn't even notice her own pregnancy. A secondary effect of her muscle definition was the ease with which she gave birth. Her child slid out of her in one swift motion, pushed out by her core muscles.

After being checked out it was clear that both mother and child were in good condition. The umbilical cord was cut and Eirin spanked the baby's bottom until it finally cried out. The baby's wrinkled skin smoothed out during this time to reveal an adorable child.

With the chaos and commotion that had taken place at the bar Yuugi hadn't been able to think about what this meant, but now she was holding her own child. The horns on the baby's forehead made it clear that it had oni blood, but the silver hair was not Yuugi's - the child had taken after both parents. A few days later Yuugi began to produce milk, to the relief of everyone, and the baby chugged it down. Yuugi had a feeling the milk chugging would turn to alcohol chugging later in life.

Yuugi "Ah, it's about time for milk."

The baby had woken and tugged on Yuugi's hair to signal its hunger. It was an act that would make a tengu or kappa break out in a cold sweat, but Yuugi only smiled. At home the baby drank from Yuugi directly, but when outside Yuugi instead relied on a milk bottle.

Yuugi "Just a second."

Yuugi took out the bottle and went to give it to the baby, when...

Mitori "Hey, Yuugi, do you think I could do it?"

Yuugi "Hm? Yeah, that's fine?"

Mitori "As you can see, I'm soon to be a mother as well... I just thought it might be good to have some practice feeding with a bottle."

Yuugi "It's not really something that requires practice."

She held out the bottle to Mitori, who took it and proceeded to gently take the baby into her arms. She moved the nipple of the bottle closer to the baby's mouth and the baby reached out to pull the bottle the rest of the way so it could begin drinking.

Mitori "Oh wow, it's drinking so fast."

Yuugi "Yeah... it's definitely my baby."

Mitori "I hope my baby is this lively..."

Mitori had always been alone. Ever since she was born.

Born to a human mother and a kappa father. A half-youkai. A rare breed in Gensoukyou. The odds of a half-youkai being born are incredibly low. Probably lower than 1 in 100 odds. After all, it's the creation of life between two different species - human and youkai. The odds are akin to the likelihood of a male calico cat being born.

But Mitori was born. From a human mother. Her mother had been horribly shocked. Things were not going well between Mitori's mother and father, but once she had become pregnant she at least hoped for the child to be human - but her hope was betrayed. What she gave birth to was a child that carried the blood of human and kappa, a half-youkai.

Her mother's wish had been half granted, but if the child wasn't pure human it meant nothing. Even if it was his blood that made her half-youkai it was something to lament. Though her mother never said anything outright, Mitori could tell by her mother's attitude and tone that she was suffering an incredible pain. Mitori knew that her mother had not wanted to give birth to her.

But still her mother raised her. She didn't marry, instead choosing to live alone as she raised her half-human daughter. When Mitori was hungry she was fed, when she was dirty she was bathed, and when she was tired she was read a book. To anyone looking at them they were a normal single-mother family.

But that was only an appearance.

In truth it was all an illusion - a deception to fool herself. Mitori's mother tried to convince herself that her daughter was human, and everything she did was an attempt to make that lie real. However... living that lie could not last forever.

And then Mitori's mother died.

Leaving Mitori behind.

She had died of fatigue and over-work. Her attempts to lie to herself required such a tremendous effort and created such an incredible strain that not even sleeping or using medicines could ease her pain. Instead her health was slowly worn away and her lifespan shortened. Her human lifespan was already short in comparison to her half-youkai daughter's, but with this burden on her soul Mitori's mother died young even by human standards.

Mitori could only think... _If not for me she would still be alive._ _If I had never been born she would still be with my father._ Mitori may not have known the truth, but her own experiences did nothing to contradict these ideas. The world seemed a cold place to her.

The humans shut her out for not being a pure-blooded human, and the kappa didn't recognize her as kin. Nobody would accept Mitori and let her in, so it was perhaps natural that she would find herself heading to the place where all of the other outcasts end up - the Underworld.

But even in a place where everyone was an outcast, nobody was particularly welcomed. Even among them a person of Mitori's mixed heritage was a never-before-seen rarity. Nobody knew how to interact with someone like Mitori, so she ended up an outsider even to the outcasts. So she had attempted to maintain a distance that wasn't too close or too far, but it proved unpleasant. Even though they were strangers, people would get a bit too close, and if Mitori attempted to close that gap they would back away. Such obvious avoidance left a sour taste in her mouth. It felt as if countless bugs were crawling across her skin.

Even here nobody needed her or welcomed her. But having descended to the Underworld once meant returning to the surface was out of the question. It was too bright there for her. Up there with Nitori, the only person that didn't reject her. It would be better to stay down in the dark depths of the Underworld.

So that's what Mitori did. Nitori asked if she'd like to live together on the surface several times, but Mitori turned her down. She appreciated that her sister accepted her, but she could do without the rest of what the surface had to offer. She feared that she would only make Nitori an outcast like herself.

The only person that Mitori could trust was the oni Yuugi. An oni wouldn't bother with lying. And with Yuugi's personality that was even more true - she would speak her mind without restraint. That bluntness was strangely not unpleasant.

Then Nitori told her about Rinnosuke the half-youkai and she couldn't believe her ears. Not because there was another half-youkai, but that a half-youkai would still be living above ground. Likewise Rinnosuke had a hard time believing in Mitori's existence until they met.

The difference between Mitori and Rinnosuke is that Rinnosuke was not alone. When he ended up on his own Yukari took him in and he gained Ran as a mother. Together with Keine they became a family. Meanwhile Mitori had a mother, but she was always alone - and had decided to remain that way forever.

But that resolve had reached a sudden and unexpected end.

Yuugi "Is it really okay... returning to the surface?"

Though she hadn't been involved by her own choice, she had ended up having sex with Rinnosuke. And the lovemaking had lasted for several days, resulting in pregnancy. Then Mitori had married Rinnosuke, and because of that she would be returning to live with him and the others on the surface.

Mitori "It'll be okay."

Yuugi "Even if people did celebrate with us, that was only a temporary thing. It doesn't change who you are. They still won't accept you. Nitori is up there, but the rest of them... they won't make life easy."

Mitori "I know that."

"But I think it will be okay."

She looked up. The ceiling blocked her view, but her gaze went far beyond it.

She was looking up at someone while feeling the child inside of her.

Mitori "Because I'm not alone anymore."

Yuugi "So you're not conflicted at all."

Yuugi laughed and ran a hand through her hair.

Yuugi "Well, _I'm_ worried. So I'll go with you."

Mitori "You could, though I don't know if we could spend much time together once on the surface."

Yuugi "Don't try to put me off, aren't we allies?"

Mitori "Now you're sounding like my sister. And we're not allies, we're friends!"

Mitori's smile was bright and beautiful.


	4. Ch4 Yamame

Yamame "Haa..."

At the same time, in the single path connecting the surface and the Underworld (which consisted of a single massive hole leading downwards) Yamame was lying in a great spider web amongst a sea of smaller spider webs. She was lying on her side with her hands under her head in place of a pillow.

Her expression was dark, but there was no evidence of sorrow. Actually her heart was filled with positive emotion, but for whatever reason Yamame was feeling listless. She stretched her left arm out so she could look at her hand. At the ring on her finger. The ring that Rinnosuke had made glowed like a firefly in the darkness.

Kisume "What's wrong, Yamame? What's got you sighing?"

Yamame "Hm? Oh, Kisume."

Her friend Kisume had come over at some point. The Tsurube-otoshi youkai was almost always inside of a bucket and spent most of her time around Yamame. She had been the most excited to learn of Yamame's marriage.

Kisume "If you keep sighing like that your happiness will get away from you. What's got you so down?"

Yamame "It's more that I'm too happy."

She looked at her ring as she spoke.

Kisume "I'm glad that you're happy. So what has you sighing?"

Yamame " _Because_ I'm happy."

Kisume "I don't understand at all."

She tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Yamame "I mean look at me... I'm a Tsuchigumo. Everyone avoids me because of the whole disease thing. Even the Kappa tell me to stay away from the river because they think I'll foul it."

Kisume "That's all ancient history! You're like an underworld idol now. With you getting married and putting your idol activity aside for a while your last performance was completely packed out."

Yamame "Yeah, but that's just because that's their last chance to see me as an idol. The normal, mundane me that lives in the Underworld isn't someone that the fans want to meet. I'm glad that people appreciate me as an idol, but when I'm not performing nobody wants me around."

Yamame has occasional live performances in the Former Capital. She dresses in bright, beautiful outfits and sings and dances under a spotlight. Sometimes she adds in extra fanservice, which makes the crowd go wild. The fans and audience get so heated up that not even the flames of hell can outdo them. But that only applied while she was on stage. When the performance was over and the crowd began to calm and disperse nobody approached Yamame to shake her hand or ask for a signature.

Yamame "If I stop being an idol everyone will go right back to avoiding me. I suppose that's only natural since I'm a disease-controlling Tsuchigumo. And some diseases could kill easily. Disease steals happiness from anyone and everyone. If I'm not an idol..."

Kisume "Then just don't quit being an idol."

Kisume said simply.

Yamame "That's not possible. Now that I'm married I'm not free to do whatever I want anymore. And sooner or later I'll have a child. And Yuugi seems to be getting ready to move to the surface with her baby as well."

Kisume "Then let me take care of your baby. Then you can keep being an idol."

Yamame began to giggle softly.

Yamame "Thanks, Kisume. But... I need to raise my child myself. As a spider and as a mother."

Kisume "Is that how it works?"

Yamame "It is. But I'm honestly worried that my child will end up hated by everyone just like me."

Kisume "I think you're fine on that point."

Yamame "But I'm a Tsuchigumo, so my child will be too... is it okay for me to be happy?"

Her expression darkened again.

Yamae "All I can do is bring unhappiness to others, so is it right for me to be happy?"

Kisume "..."

Kisume scratched at her head as she pondered.

Kisume "You know, I was thinking..."

What she said next made Yamame jump with surprise.

Kisume "Is it wrong for you to be happy?"

Yamame "Eh?"

Yamame's eyes widened.

Kisume "That's what it sounds like you're saying to me, that it's wrong for you to be happy."

Yamame "That's... not true."

There was no questioning that Yamame was happy. She had an irreplaceable friend in Kisume and she'd found a life partner as well. She would never have expected that. She'd have a child at some point, which would make good use of her poofy clothes. The sources of happiness in her life were obvious.

But Yamame was conflicted about if she should accept that happiness or not. She hadn't done anything lately to be undeserving of happiness, but she'd been a bit famous not too long ago. And not in a good way. She had used her control over disease as a toy. On anyone she felt like. Innocent children and feeble elders alike. She would afflict them with whatever disease struck her fancy at the time. She enjoyed watching them as the disease set in. At the time there was nobody like Reimu around to deal with such things, so she could do as she pleased. Athlete's foot, yellow fever, itai-itai disease (cadmium poisoning).

But when she gave a baby pneumonia as a joke the baby ended up dying. That was the first time she felt guilt for her actions. She hadn't indended to kill. She had only intended to slightly inconvenience them and had never imagined the child would die. Yamame had no idea that baby's were so delicate that even a lick of honey could kill them. And she had given such a baby pneumonia, a condition that killed even adults in the prime of life.

It soon got out that Yamame had been the one to cause it - and so many other afflictions - and she found herself hated by all humans. That's how she ended up in the Underworld. Given what she had done back in those days, Yamame couldn't believe she deserved happiness now.

Kisume "It's okay, you know? To be happy."

Kisume knew about Yamame's past.

Kisume "If you don't deserve to be happy then neither do I. I've killed many people."

At the bottom of the path that connected the surface and the Underworld were the bones of the humans that Kisume had consumed. Down in the darkness where light never reached, nobody could see the bones of the dead nor could they decay. They remained forever.

Yamame "You're only eating to stay alive. It's not the same as what I did just to amuse myself."

Kisume "But killing is killing. And I've done far worse things that you have."

Yamame "I guess so..."

Yamame sat up.

Yamame "But Kisume, you're killing just to eat. All I did was entertain myself at the cost of others."

Kisume "It's the same. I only care about the benefit to myself as well."

Yamame "But that's not..."

Kisume "Hey, Yamame."

She reached out and placed a finger over Yamame's lips.

Kisume "Why are you only telling me reasons that you shouldn't be happy? That's all you've been saying. Because you're a Tsuchigumo, because of disease, because of the past, that's all you're saying."

Yamame "It's just the truth. I..."

Kisume pinched Yamame's cheek.

Kisume "You need to stop this. You're just scared. Scared to be happy. You're looking for reasons that you shouldn't be happy so that you can run away. This whole time you've never once looked happy - you just look like you're trying to push it away."

Yamame "No, I..."

Compared to how she normally behaved, Kisume was being far more forceful than Yamame would ever have imagined. They had been friends for a long time, but Yamame had never seen Kisume like this.

Kisume "Don't turn your back on happiness! Don't let the past chain you down! Don't let your guilt keep you down! Everyone deserves to be happy. So stop being afraid of it, Yamame."

She didn't offer any proof. But Yamame felt something in Kisume's words - something that only friends as close as these two could understand. Her friend's words struck home.

Yamame (Afraid of happiness...huh...)

She hadn't been conflicted, she had been scared. She felt like it should have been obvious, but she'd needed someone to point it out to her.

Kisume "You deserve to be happy. No, you _**have**_ to be happy. For the sake of the man that made that ring for you."

Yamame "For Rinnosuke..."

Yamame looked at her ring once more.

Kisume "You love him, don't you? Rinnosuke."

Yamame "!"

Her face flushed red and steam began to rise from her head.

Yamame "Y-You knew?"

Kisume "We've always been together."

Yamame "W-When did you notice?"

Kisume "A long time ago. I'm your friend. Not that it takes being your friend to tell. When Rinnosuke's around your face gets red, you laugh and smile when he pats your head, if he praises you you jump for joy when you think nobody is looking, and then there's the makeup you put on when you know you're going to see him. And the wedding-"

Yamame "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! OKAY! Okay just don't say any more!"

Having her feelings and her actions recounted in such a manner was more than just "embarrassing." Her face was so red that it seemed she might actually burst into flames.

Kisume "I'm right, aren't I?

Yamame "Uuuuu..."

But hearing it like this proved a good opportunity for Yamame to come to terms with her feelings. She had tried to deny them too, but if they were so obvious that Kisume recognized them, then she must truly feel that way about Rinnosuke.

And that was a happy feeling.

Kisume "Be honest about what you feel. You need to be happy. If you love Rinnosuke, then that's all the more reason."

Yamame "Haa~"

She sighed heavily once more.

Yamame "What have I been doing..."

She slapped her cheeks lightly with both hands and the darkness that had clouded her expression disappeared.

Yamame "I'm going to see Rinnosuke. I should help him with the construction."

She brandished a finger upwards and a strand of web stretched towards the surface.

Kisume "Finally. There's the Yamame I know. Happiness looks good on you."

Yamame "You were right. Sitting here thinking isn't going to get me anywhere. I just need to keep my eyes on what's happening now. I don't have the time to be dealing with the past. And it wouldn't be fair to Rinnosuke if I let myself get caught up in it anyways."

Kisume "Then don't cut that thread of happiness."

Kisume pointed to the thread extending from Yamame's finger.

Yamame "Don't worry. My thread can't be cut."

She sounded confident now.

Kisume "Because spider thread is 4x stronger than steel."

Yamame "That's not why."

She took hold of the thread.

Yamame "Because the red string of fate cannot be cut. Especially not when it connects me to Rinnosuke."

She began to rise towards the surface.

Towards the one she loves.


	5. Ch5 Seija

Seija "To think I would be a mother."

She was sitting on a tree branch and muttering to herself. She held in her arms a bundle of newly born life. The child's head had a dusting of wispy black hair and its cheeks were a soft pink. When she poked at the baby's cheeks it reached up to grab her finger. When the baby put her finger into its toothless mouth and began to suck it tickled.

Seija "My finger isn't a pacifier."

She reached into her bag and took out the baby's pacifier, then placed it into the child's mouth while removing her finger. The baby was surprised for a second, but soon went back to sucking contentedly.

That adorable behavior filled Seija with a complicated mix of emotions.

Seija "Well aren't you cute..."

She scratched at her head in embarrassment. She felt the metal ring on her finger touch her head.

Seija "And I really got married. To Rinnosuke..."

The silver metal of the ring glittered in the sunlight. Rinnosuke had made it as a way to apologize for what had happened, but it was also the representation of her wedding bond with him. Aside from when she bathed she hadn't removed it even once. Keine and the others had rings as well, but Rinnosuke had engraved each ring with a symbol that matched each of the women so they could be told apart. In Seija's case the back of a coin was visible when the ring was flipped.

As she looked at the ring she remembered what had happened.

Seija (Uwaaaaaaa! I can't believe I lost my virginity like that. Even if we were all under the effects of a drug, to do it in a place like that... and do... do that... It's not my fault! Normally no matter what I do he won't even talk to me, he just looks at me with that same calm expression... for him to... to... to kiss me... that's not fair! I didn't really mind if it was with him... he's actually pretty cool... it pisses me off, but he makes my heart race! And so what do I do? I not only have sex with him, I let him use my butt too... and it hurt! How could he put something that big inside me? I thought I was going to split in half!)

She felt like her face would catch on fire. Just thinking back to what they had done made her face flush deep red and her body temperature rose by several degrees at least.

Seija had felt an interest in Rinnosuke for some time before the incident. She wasn't sure if the interest she felt was simply her being open to getting to know him as an acquaintance or friend, or if her interest was in him as a man. Either way, she didn't dislike him. He was better than any of the other humans or youkai that she didn't know or care to know.

In the unexpected events of that night she had learned of her feelings, and thanks to Eirin's drug she had ended up doing all kinds of things and now she was married to Rinnosuke and holding his child in her arms.

Seija had never thought of being with anyone like that. She had never thought of being a mother. If anything she would have wanted to crush the happiness of all those cheerful couples that she saw.

And now she was holding a baby. She couldn't believe it.

Baby "Mm~ Mmmm~"

The bundle of warmth was the proof that this was real.

But that wasn't a bad thing.

Seija "Okay then."

She descended from the tree to stand on the ground.

Seija " _Sniff, sniff._ I knew it."

The baby had begun to motion at her so she sniffed to check and confirmed that the child had soiled its diaper.

Seija "I swear..."

She sighed and set the baby on a rock while she reached into her bag to find cloths and a new diaper.

Seija "Never thought I'd be doing this..."

Since giving birth Seija had begun to change.

The most obvious change was that she'd stopped performing any wicked acts. Or rather, she couldn't do them anymore. An Amanojaku like Seija couldn't leave her child alone, which meant she was always carrying the baby with her on her back. Any time she attempted to do something the baby would begin to cry and distract her. She hadn't done anything to anyone since giving birth, and she found that now people reacted to her differently. When her baby cried people actually wanted to help her.

She'd ended up friends with all of the other youkai mothers as a result, and they'd been helping her to figure out how to care for her child.

Seija "Okay, I guess that's it."

At first she hadn't understood how to change a baby's diaper at all, but now she didn't hesitate no matter how full the diaper was - she stripped it off, cleaned the baby with a cloth, and got a new diaper in place. And of course these diapers weren't like the ones found in the outside world. They were normal cloth that had to be cleaned. She had to carry cleaning cloths and diaper cloths around everywhere.

Seija "And it's just in time for your milk."

At home Seija gave her baby breast milk, but while outside she relied on powdered milk. Yuuka had teased her by asking if such small breasts could produce milk, but to even Seija's surprise she actually did begin to lactate.

She'd grown used to mixing milk as well. At first finding the perfect temperature for the milk had been difficult - not too hot, not too cold, right at body temperature - but now she was used to it. She didn't even need to measure the milk powder now. Children drink a lot of milk, so it was important to keep the right amount of powder to avoid over-fattening the baby.

Rinnosuke had given her a magical bottle from the Kourindou that maintained the temperature of the milk she put inside, so she poured some milk into a nursing bottle now and began to feed the baby.

Seija "Ooh, there you go. Ah, whoops, I need to write that down."

With the feeding over and the baby burped, Seija took out a small notebook.

It was a log for recording the daily activities of the baby. What time did the baby have milk, how much did it drink, did it burp, the amount and color of the baby's waste, etc. The other mothers had taught her this as well. It provided a clear picture of the baby's health while also making it easier to notice patterns and realize when things were going wrong. It also allowed for an easier exchange of information with the other mothers.

Seija "Half of a nursing bottle of milk, and the poop was... hm?"

A feral dog began to approach.

 _Woof! Woof!_

The dog approached the baby and began to bark.

Seija "W-What do you want!?"

The baby had been contentedly dozing off after its meal, but now it began to cry.

Seija "Get out of here!"

Tossing her notebook to the side, Seija took her baby in her arms and kicked at the dog. It tucked its tail and ran.

Seija "I swear..."

She checked over her child to make sure it hadn't been hurt, but stopped when she realized her baby was smiling up at her and reaching for her. Perplexed by the baby's reaction, Seija lowered her face towards her baby's. The child gently patted her cheek and rubbed its face against hers as if saying thanks.

Seija "Are you thanking me? I don't need that."

Seija kissed her baby.

Seija "I'm always a friend to the weak."


	6. Ch6 Kagerou and Sekibanki

Kagerou "Mnn... Mm... Ngh..."

In the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Kagerou was stuffing her face with meat.

Sekibanki "..."

While Sekibanki watched her.

Sekibanki "You sure eat a lot."

Kagerou "I need to eat a lot so I can have nutrients and energy."

Sekibanki "Even though we're both like this."

They both had large stomachs. Of course their stomachs were not large from being overweight; they were both carrying Rinnosuke's child. They had both entered the final month of pregnancy, but Eirin believed Sekibanki would be the first to deliver.

When Kagerou heard this her fur stood on end with frustration, but Sekibanki hadn't seemed to react. She simply said, "I see." But what nobody knew - including Kagerou - was that under Sekibanki's high collar the corners of her mouth were turned up in a smile of pure delight.

But what Sekibanki didn't know was that when they parted ways and she began to dance with the joy that she had been suppressing Kagerou saw her. She was also unaware that Kagerou smiled like a Kuchisake-onna (slit-mouth woman) at the sight.

Sekibanki "I can't believe what I did back then... just thinking about it makes me so embarrassed. How could I give him fellatio while multiple heads? What kind of weird fetish is watching yourself give fellatio?"

Kageroo "I felt like he was going to break my jaw or suffocate me when I did it. I mean... Eirin had told me he was big, but I was not expecting THAT. It was so big and thick... like a boneless ham. I was sure he was going to split me wide open when he put it into me..."

Sekibanki "I thought the same thing."

The normal genital size for a man is ○○ cm long with a girth of ○ cm, but Rinnosuke had ○○ cm and ○ cm. Even without an erection he was ○○ cm.

It wasn't clear if the size was due to his half-youkai heritage or if he just happened to be particularly well-endowed. And that wasn't all - he had the endurance and testicles to match. When he came he released an unbelievable amount and of such thickness that it was the consistency of tempura batter.

All of the women had attempted to drink it, but they'd all struggled. Even with saliva to help lubricate their throats most of it got stuck and had to be spat out.

To put it into another context, Eirin - who was used to seeing these facets of male health due to her healing and diagnostic services - had swallowed hard when she saw Rinnosuke's.

Sekibanki "If he cums that much every time it's no surprise that we're all pregnant."

Kagerou "He came so much that it overflowed and soaked my tail."

Sekibanki "He even put it into my butt. It hurts, by the way."

Kagerou "Ah, I thought it must."

Sekibanki "It doesn't _just_ hurt. Stuff shouldn't be going inside of the butt. And when the thing going inside is the size of Rinnosuke... I truly thought I was going to break in half. And he did it again and again!"

She rubbed a hand on her butt as if just remembering made the pain return.

Kagerou "Does it feel good though? Eirin said the butt could be used to feel sexual pleasure."

Sekibanki "Um... w-well..."

She looked away.

Kagerou "Come on, tell me! How did it feel?"

Sekibanki "Do I have to tell you now?"

Kagerou "I can't very well ask you after we're both mothers. But for right now it's just us here, so why not?"

Sekibanki "You act like this is a normal thing to talk about..."

Kagerou "Oh come on. How was it? It's called anal sex, right? Tell me~!"

Kagerou was watching her closely, her interest obvious. Sekibanki seemed to be struggling with herself, but eventually she opened her mouth to speak.

Sekibanki "It..."

Her words trailed off as she whispered.

Kagerou "Huh? I didn't catch that."

She leaned closer.

Sekibanki "It fe..."

Kagerou "Hmmm? I~ can't~ hear~ you~!"

Sekibanki "~~~~~~!"

Finally...

Sekibanki "I SAID IT FELT GOOD!"

She yelled it out.

Kagerou "Ooh!"

Kagerou's tail whipped from side to side.

Sekibanki "I already said this earlier, but it really does hurt at first. Feeling something going inside makes your muscles clench, and that makes it hurt. And something that big going in would make anyone scared."

Kagerou "Mhm."

Sekibanki "At first even with lubrication it hurt so much that it didn't feel good at all, but he kept touching my breasts and stuff, and that distracted me until before I realized it the pain was gone. After that it started feeling good."

Kagerou "Mhm, mhm!"

Sekibanki "He broke me in, I guess. Ran told me that because of the colon your butt is longer and narrower than your vagina, so it's easier to get pleasure. I didn't think I'd ever experience it for myself, though."

Kagerou "So it felt good."

Sekibanki "...Yeah."

After a while Sekibanki nodded. She had a hand on her butt as she did so.

Sekibanki "It really does hurt at first, but once you get used to it... it feels so good you get hooked. I think I'd prefer anal now."

Kagerou "Really?!"

Kagerou was shocked.

Sekibanki "With anal you don't have to worry about getting pregnant, so he can cum inside every time. And being cum inside is just... compared to _not_ it feels..."

Kagerou "Happier?"

Sekibanki "Yeah, I guess. But now when I think about Rinnosuke my butt starts feeling tingly. And I don't think I'll have trouble with constipation anymore."

Kagerou "Wow~ Is that so..."

Sekibanki "If I had to choose, I think I prefer anal. Plus you can do anal while pregnant."

Kagerou "Geeze, you're so lewd Sekibanki~!"

For some reason Kagerou seemed taken aback.

Sekibanki "L-Lewd? You're the one that asked me!"

Kagerou "I didn't think you'd go into that much detail. But I see... so Sekibanki likes it in the butt. Hmm~ "

Sekibanki "Guh..."

Kagerou "Personally I like licking Rinnosuke's."

As Sekibanki found that she liked anal, Kagerou had discovered that being able to use her mouth made fellatio her preferred sexual act. Slowly moving her tongue from the base to the head, lapping at the shaft and head before sliding it into her mouth and moving her head up and down. Even though it felt like her jaw would dislocate and even though it choked her at times Kagerou didn't mind.

The anatomy of Kagerou's mouth was different from that of the others due to her specific youkai heritage. Her tongue especially was different in that the taste buds which covered the surface detected different tastes than the others. Normal taste buds are smooth, rounded masses which coat the tongue, whereas a cat has sharp, pointed buds which are used to scrape and catch on material to bring it into the mouth. That is why a cat's tongue feel like sandpaper. That is also why dogs and cats eat foods differently. Dogs eat food in gulps, but drink water by lapping with their tongues. Cats both eat and drink by licking with their tongues. Thus Kagerou, who is more similar to a dog than a cat, has a thin, soft tongue which tickles when used to lick.

Because of this she was able to lick the entirety of Rinnosuke's penis, allowing her to stimulate him in such a way that it was impossible for him to lose his erection for any length of time.

Of course in their previous experience Rinnosuke had been drugged to never go limp anyways, so he'd ended up wearing Kagerou out instead.

Kagerou "This is a different topic altogether, but have you thought of a name yet?"

Sekibanki "What made you ask that?"

Kagerou "Well we're going to be pushing babies out from between our legs soon."

Sekibanki "Your description is accurate, but I'd really prefer you not say it like that again."

Kagerou "It's just the truth. So, a name. Got one?"

Sekibanki "Not yet. That's something to discuss before deciding."

Kagerou "I think figuring out a few good ones now would be helpful. I've already thought of mine - for both a boy and girl."

Sekibanki "What are they?"

Kagerou "That's... a secret~!"

Sekibanki "Ugh!"

She hung her head in annoyance.

Kagerou "You'll know when the time comes. So you should go ahead and be thinking about names yourself."

Sekibanki "Names, huh..."

She sat back up and looked at her swollen stomach.

She didn't know the gender of her children. Though Eirin's "doctoring skills" (?) would allow Sekibanki to choose the gender of her children if she wanted. Two lives were growing inside of Sekibanki. They would be born soon and had already chosen their own genders. For that first choice to be made by Sekibanki didn't seem right. She felt the same way about their names.

Sekibanki had an intuitive feeling about what would happen.

Sekibanki "I think it will be okay."

Kagerou "How can you tell that?"

Sekibanki "Just a feeling."

Kagerou "Hmm~"

Kagerou didn't seem convinced, but Sekibanki felt certain.

Sekibanki (I'm sure that once I see their faces I'll know their names. It just feels like that's what is right.)

As her certainty grew and as she felt assured that Rinnosuke would agree with her, Sekibanki's expression became that of a mother.


	7. Ch7 Akyuu and Kosuzu

Akyuu "..." _Shuffle, shuffle_

Kosuzu "..." _Flip_

They were in a room of the Hieda mansion within the human village. It was Akyuu's private study and work room. Within this room Akyuu stored her records of daily events, youkai danger levels, human friendliness levels, etc. The bookcases inside of the room were packed with those records.

Kosuzu was helping Akyuu to sort and file the writings that she had yet to store. When the rental library back home was closed she would come to help like this. Akyuu was unable to read the writings of the youkai from long ago, so Kosuzu would read them aloud for her so she could write them down into her own records. They were currently in the middle of this process.

The clock on the wall began to chime softly.

Akyuu "Three already. Let's take a break."

Kosuzu "Sounds good."

Kosuzu stood up and stretched.

Akyuu "Phew. Thanks for helping me out again today. I know you have enough to do at the store already."

Akyuu seemed to feel guilty about needing the other girl's help.

Kosuzu "It's fine."

Kosuzu smiled cheerfully without a trace of annoyance or resentment.

But having just worked for about three hours straight, now that they were finally taking a break the fatigue that had built up during that time hit them all at once.

Akyuu "I'm feeling a bit hungry from all that work. I'll have a servant bring us some tea and snacks."

Kosuzu "Are you sure?"

Akyuu "I'd feel guilty if I didn't offer you at least this."

Akyuu rang a small bell with a sharp jingle and the door slid open as a servant entered. Akyuu asked for tea and snacks, to which the servant bowed and departed once more through the sliding door.

Kosuzu seemed to be surprised at the cool and collected expression and tone Akyuu used when addressing her servant.

Kosuzu "Hmm~? So that's what you're like at home?"

Akyuu "Surprising?"

Kosuzu "Yeah."

Her reply was immediate.

Akyuu "Let's put that aside for now. How about we have a chat while we take our break?"

Kosuzu "About what?"

Akyuu "Hmm, how about this?"

She lifted her left hand to show the ring on her finger.

Kosuzu "Ah, that."

Kosuzu had a matching ring on her finger as well. Both the same silver metal. The only difference was the engraving that each bore: Akyuu had a scroll and Kosuzu had a book.

Yes, both girls were already married at their young age. And to the same man - Rinnosuke.

After what had happened they had exchanged vows and married. Of course both of their households had been shocked by this chain of events, but between both girls consenting and refusing to take no for an answer, their families had eventually accepted.

With both girls having yet to have their first periods, neither of them was pregnant.

Akyuu "What do you think, Kosuzu?"

The first to speak was Akyuu.

Kosuzu "What do you mean?"

Akyuu "About having married him. Rinnosuke."

Kosuzu "Mmm~ Sorry to flip the question, but what do you think, Akyuu?"

Akyuu "Me?"

Kosuzu "Mhm."

Akyuu looked up at the ceiling as she pondered her response.

Akyuu "Well I don't feel bad."

Was all she said.

Kosuzu "I see."

Akyuu "The truth is, and this is just between us, I actually had several candidates for marriage. To help find the best genes for my next rebirth."

Kosuzu "Oh? I had no idea. I guess that's normal for a family like yours."

Kosuzu seemed excited at the news of her friend having suitors to pick from, but Akyuu's expression was pained as she let out a sigh.

Akyuu "It's not so great as you think. In reality it's just a bunch of men trying to become part of the Hieda family so they can live the easy life and gain access to our money. Or men trying to gain access to my power."

Kosuzu "S-Seriously?"

Akyuu "Seriously."

She stood up and opened one of the side doors. She searched around inside for a few moments before pulling out a scroll. Unlike the other scrolls, this one was quite thick.

Kosuzu was shocked at what she found upon opening it.

Kosuzu "Uwaa, so many names..."

The scroll was filled with the names of Akyuu's potential partners. The sons of wealthy families or skilled craftsmen - many of the names were unfamiliar to Kosuzu - but as she looked she was unable to find any that looked good.

Just about every single one of them was a good-for-nothing who had only inherited wealth or fame from their parents. The parents of such sons had no idea what to do with their lazy, useless offspring. Marrying their sons to Akyuu just seemed to be an easy way for them to be rid of a troublesome child.

Not only would a marriage to Akyuu rid them of their problem, but they'd also become bound to the Hieda family and gain standing. Such a marriage would bring great fortune to them, but for Akyuu it would cause nothing but trouble. It was clear that Akyuu had suffered a great deal in handling the issue of her marriage.

Having to meet them each time and figure out that her potential marriage partner was just going to be a burden she was taking from his family - a burden she might be stuck dealing with even in her next life - made Akyuu feel as though a hole would open in her stomach. She felt as if these constant pressures on top of her work would eventually be too much and crush her. But she couldn't just refuse them outright, so she had been stuck to play the game and stall them out while trying to maintain cordial relations.

Akyuu "It was during all of that... that Rinnosuke came, and..."

Akyuu began to fidget awkwardly.

Kosuzu "And you fell for him?"

Akyuu "Guh."

Akyuu's face turned red at Kosuzu's words.

Akyuu "Th-That's right."

Kosuzu "Well I don't have any room to talk."

Kosuzu looked embarrassed too as she awkwardly scratched her head. She had been aware of Rinnosuke just as Akyuu had.

And then that night at the Moriya Shrine they had all been freed to act on the desires they didn't understand.

Akyuu "It's not like we really made a decision for all of that to happen, but because it did I was finally able to cut free from all of this."

Kosuzu "Cut free? Because of that?"

Kosuzu seemed confused.

Akyuu "I turned all of them away. I was able to say that I was engaged to Rinnosuke, which gave me the reason I needed to tell everyone else no. When they saw the ring on my finger they had no choice but to give up. Who knows how many others that had yet to approach me will also be kept away now."

Kosuzu "So you used him. Rinnosuke."

Akyuu "Just being practical."

Akyuu seemed proud of herself.

Kosuzu "But this doesn't change that you're marrying a person you don't love, right?"

Akyuu "I wouldn't say that."

Akyuu's reply was immediate.

Akyuu "Putting aside whether or not I love him, I certainly don't dislike Rinnosuke. I never have, not since I first met him."

Kosuzu "Really? This is the first time I've heard of that."

Akyuu "Because I never told anyone. I didn't think I would ever need to. Aren't you the same?"

Kosuzu "Oh, so you did realize."

Akyuu "Vaguely. Any time we were in Rinnosuke's shop your eyes would wander back to him. I had a feeling that might be why."

Kosuzu "Yeah. He looks cooler than the men in the village, he reads, he's smart, and most importantly he _treasures_ books. At first I just felt a bit interested in him, but before I knew it I liked him and I'd spend more time looking at him than looking at the stuff he was selling in the store."

Rinnosuke is not human. They had both understood that, though they had not _known_ it. Nobody had told them, and it wasn't obvious in any way by looking at Rinnosuke. Based entirely on appearance Rinnosuke seemed to be a normal young human man. Unlike Reimu and the others, Akyuu and Kosuzu had no powers that enabled them to feel the mystical energy that his youkai half gave him.

However they had both felt that he was different from any other person. At first that had been all there was to it. It had began slowly enough - just greetings exhanged in passing.

But then when something would happen that placed them alone together they would begin to talk. Chatting about beloved books while checking out from the store, or running into each other at a restaurant and sharing a table to discuss a history book, or any number of other small events that turned into drawn out conversations. These conversations are what lead to the distance closing over time.

Neither girl had regrets. Rinnosuke was far superior to marrying some random man. In fact they were glad to have married him. But even if some other man were to appear who was superior to Rinnosuke in every way - appearance, personality, wealth - they would both still choose Rinnosuke.

They had no proof.

They had no guarantee.

But they were certain.

Neither of them knew why. Just...

Kosuzu "So what if you have a baby?"

Akyuu "Hm, yeah..."

In the eyes of the two young women shined a bright future.


	8. Ch8 Kasen and Yuuka

Kasen "HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Yuuka "Ha... Hmph!"

THWACK!

A shockwave spread through the air as their fists met. The surrounding sunflowers swayed from the force.

Kasen "Hai! Hai! Hai!"

Kasen slid smoothly into a series of kicks, spinning as she struck low and high.

Yuuka "Sei!"

Yuuka dodged each of them, dipping low and rushing forward to close the gap. She grabbed hold of Kasen's collar and used a shoulder throw to send her to the ground.

Kasen "Kuh!"

But Kasen moved with the throw instead of resisting, using the added momentum to turn in midair and land on her feet.

Kasen "Uwa!"

But Yuuka didn't miss a beat. Before Kasen could regain her balance, Yuuka swept one of her legs out from under her, sending her toppling to the ground.

Yuuka "That's my win."

Kasen "Haa, haa... You got me."

They were in a cleared section of the Garden of the Sun. They were sparring without the use of any spell cards or weapons.

When her pregnancy ended Kasen found herself feeling much weaker, so she had asked Yuuka to train with her. Yuuka hadn't liked the idea of training through sparring at first. Normally she would have been happy enough to go along with Kasen's request, but now Kasen was a mother. What would happen if she were injured during their sparring? It would leave a bad taste in her mouth to do such a thing.

But no matter how she protested Kasen would not yield. In the end Yuuka gave in and agreed to spar with her. The baby was sleeping inside where it wouldn't see them.

Now that they had sparred together Yuuka could safely say that Kasen showed no sign of having weakened during her pregnancy. She had speed and agility, and Yuuka's hand still hurt from where she had blocked one of Kasen's punches.

Kasen "I really have grown soft."

Kasen seemed to take her loss as evidence of having lost her edge, but Yuuka didn't think that was the case. Yuuka had wanted to avoid striking the other woman so as not to harm her - instead focusing on throws and grapples - but it had been pointless. Instead it had just handicapped Yuuka.

When it came to physical combat they were evenly matched. Yuuka likely had a disadvantage because she couldn't use any pure attacks or Master Spark, but thanks to Kasen's tendency to always attack head-on she had been able to win. If Yuuka had been fighting someone else - such as Ran - the fight would not have gone this way. It would likely have been Yuuka who lost. Even if Yuuka had more power, Ran was so tricky that it would be difficult to take her down. They had previously fought here with the use of weapons and Master Spark allowed, and in the end Yuuka had been the one on the ground despite the favorable conditions.

Kasen "One more time, please, Yuuka."

Unaware of what Yuuka had gone through, Kasen stood up once more and asked for another round of sparring.

Yuuka "No. That's all for now."

Yuuka refused her simply.

Kasen "Why?"

Yuuka "You can't hear?"

She pointed towards the house. Kasen looked at the house and focused her hearing. After a couple seconds she tuned out the other noises and began to hear the faint sound of distant crying.

Kasen "Oh no! It's almost time for milk!"

She rushed towards the house. Yuuka slowly followed behind her.

Inside she found the baby wrapped in a blanket and crying. When Kasen entered the room the baby began to wiggle about as it tried to get to her.

Kasen "There, there. I'm sorry to leave you all alone. I'll give you your milk now."

Not even paying attention to the dirt still clinging to her, she picked up the baby and moved over to a chair. Once she had settled into place with the baby cuddled against her chest she slid one of her breasts out. Though babies have fairly poor vision it knew immediately what the smell of its mother meant. As soon as her breast was bared the baby was hungrily searching for the nipple that would provide it with milk.

Once it found her nipple it latched on and began to suck eagerly.

Kasen "It's okay, it's not going to disappear."

At first Kasen had found the sensation of suckling to be a mix of tickling and pain, plus her embarrassment at baring her breast, but now she was completely accustomed to the act.

Yuuka "That massive chest of yours finally has a purpose."

She entered the room.

Kasen "I guess so. I'd always hated how much my chest got in the way, but it seems to make it easier for my little one to drink. I guess they're just the right size."

Yuuka "...Can I ask you something?"

She sat down across from Kasen.

Kasen "What's that?"

Yuuka "Having a baby suck on your breast... what does it feel like? Does it tickle?"

Kasen "What does it feel like?"

She looked up at the ceiling as if pondering the question.

Kasen "I guess I can't really explain it?"

Yuuka "You can't?"

Kasen "I mean I really can't. At first it tickled and hurt, but now it doesn't. It feels completely different."

Yuuka "Like what?"

Kasen "I can't really explain it with words. You'd have to feel it to understand."

Yuuka "But I'm not pregnant, so even if I wanted to I couldn't. Plus I don't have breasts like yours."

She motioned at her own chest while looking enviously as Kasen's.

Kasen "You're plenty big. Your breasts would be just fine."

Yuuka "That's easy for you to say."

Yuuka sighed and leaned back in her chair, her face turning towards the ceiling as she let her head rest on the top of the chair back. At that same time the baby finished drinking and stopped sucking at Kasen's breast.

Kasen "Oh, looks like we're all done. Now let's get you burped. There you go."

Kasen leaned the baby against her shoulder as she gently patted its back. After a few moments it burped softly.

Kasen "There you go, that's it. Good job."

She smiled at her baby as she gently stroked its head. Her smile was different now, somehow looking more motherly.

Yuuka "You really look like a mother now."

Kasen "Do I? I feel just the same as always."

Yuuka "It's hard to believe you're one of the Big Four of the Mountain."

The Big Four of the Mountain.

The beings whose power was so great that they had dominance over all other oni. Tengu hold a high position in Gensoukyou, but before the oni they were just another youkai. The oni were so frighteningly powerful that even now, after they have, kappa and tengu still feel fear when they see the mountain. Even the carefree Shameimaru would be on her absolute best behavior when it came to oni.

Even though the oni were thought to be gone from Gensoukyou, the people still strived to avoid doing anything that would anger them. That's how different oni were from other youkai. The Big Four of the Mountain were the most powerful of the oni, and Ibaraki Kasen was one of those four. However, since Kasen hadn't acted as openly as Suika or Yuugi, very few knew that she had been one of the Big Four. Kasen's horns were also quite small compared to the others, so she was able to conceal them beneath her buns. Most people had no idea that Kasen was an oni.

Kasen had become one of the Big Four due to her power, but with Suika and Yuugi around most of the youkai had already been put into their place, so Kasen had only ever given stern lectures to those who skipped out on work or were lazy. Kasen and the other oni of the Big Four had also cleaned up after Suika and Yuugi's messes - in fact this may have been their main duty.

That same Kasen was now married to Rinnosuke and holding a baby. The club she used to carry had been replaced by a baby's rattle and pacifier.

Kasen "Hm? Oh, the diaper needs changing."

The baby had begun crying again. Apparently this time it was because of its diaper. The diaper _did_ look a bit swollen, and there was a slight stench in the air.

Kasen "Yuuka, hold the baby for a second."

Yuuka "Yeah, yeah."

She passed the baby to Yuuka and pulled a new diaper out of her bag. She had used cloth diapers at first, but she wasn't as deft at putting them on as Rinnosuke and they would always end up falling off or getting tied into a horrible knot. Ran had taken pity on her and asked Yukari to get some diapers from the outside world.

She'd chosen slip-ons instead of ones bound by tape. The elastic bits fit snugly against the legs and waist.

Kasen "Ah, huh? Why are you still crying?"

Even after being changed into a clean diaper the baby continued to cry. Perhaps it was still upset at having been wearing a dirty diaper. Babies tended to cry even if nothing was wrong at the moment.

Kasen "Come on~ Stop crying~"

More accustomed to scolding, Kasen had a hard time comforting her baby. Her attempts to distract the baby with toys or play with it only made the crying worse.

Yuuka "Haa... hand it over."

Yuuka finally decided to step in and help.

Kasen "Hand it over? This is my baby, not a _thing_."

Yuuka "I know, I know."

Kasen passed the crying baby to Yuuka.

Yuuka held the baby in bother arms, then stood and moved over towards the window. She took a seat in a rocking chair, not minding that the baby continued to cry.

Once settled in her seat she began to gently rock.

Yuuka "~ ~~ "

She began to sing a lullaby. As she did so the baby slowly grew quieter as it stopped crying.

Kasen had never heard Yuuka sing before. Unlike her usual personality - lovely like a rose, but also sharp with hidden thorns - her song was pure and warm. It was calming. Yuuka's expression seemed more peaceful than usual as well.

Yuuka was one of the most powerful beings in Gensoukyou. She far outpaced the power of the other youkai. Her only weakness was that she lacked in speed, but she made up for it in power. Putting aside the outliers like Reimu, Yuuka could take on several of the other youkai at one time. And suiting her name as Flower Master, her control of plants gave her a diverse variety of attacks with which she had defeated many a foe.

Yuuka had a bit of a mean-streak in her, which meant she tended to play tricks and tease youkai like Wriggle. Unfortunately because of her power what she intended as a simple trick could end up hurting the others quite seriously. Because of this many of the weaker youkai feared Yuuka and thought her a sadist. Her personality might be part of the problem, but it was also likely that the rumors had grown quite embellished over time.

Those that understood who Yuuka really was were increasing in number, but it was unlikely that the bad rumors about her would ever truly disappear.

Still, Kasen had no idea that Yuuka could sing a gentle lullaby like this. She was surprised to discover a new side to a friend that she had had for so long.

As she continued to sing and gently pat the baby's back, the baby's breathing slowed and it fell asleep. It was hard to believe it had been crying only minutes earlier. It had completely yielded itself to Yuuka as it slumbered against her.

Yuuka "That's a good baby. Have a nice nap."

Kasen "Haa..."

Kasen couldn't help but feel impressed by what her friend had done. She took her baby back and lay it down to sleep once more in the bed.

Kasen "Since when could you sing lullabies?"

Yuuka "It's not like I went out of my way to learn how. I just ended up picking it up while hanging out with Wriggle, Cirno, and the other little brats. Ran taught it to me."

Kasen "Aaah, that makes sense."

Not necessarily the lullaby part, but the part about dealing with Cirno and the others made sense. Especially Cirno, who seemed to lack the brains to control herself, likely ended up upset from teasing and needing a lullaby quite often. With kids like that around it made sense that Kasen would end up learning the skill.

Kasen "I was just thinking..."

Yuuka "Hm?"

Kasen "You might be a good kindergarten teacher."

Yuuka "Kindergarten?"

Kasen "It's a school for children smaller than the ones Keine teaches. To put it simply, it's a place where children like Cirno and Rumia would go."

Yuuka "Eeeh? No way. Just dealing with one of them is annoying enough, I couldn't handle a whole group. I'd never want to do that as a job."

Kasen "I think you'd be pretty good at it."

Yuuka "I think you'd be better suited for teaching, since you love lecturing so much."

Kasen "I don't lecture because I enjoy it!"

Yuuka "Oh come on, you love it."

Kasen "There's just a lot of people that would get Reimu or Marisa riled up, it's not because I enjoy lecturing them!"

She slapped the table and her voice grew louder.

Yuuka "Don't make so much noise after I finally got the baby to sleep."

Yuuka placed a finger against Kasen's lips to quiet her. Kasen sat back down in sulky silence, drinking a mouthful of the tea that Yuuka had prepared.

Yuuka "Putting aside what work we would be good at, aren't we both already working?"

Kasen "What work is that?"

Yuuka sighed and rested her chin on her hand as Kasen tilted her head in confusion.

Yuuka "Come on, you know."

The silver ring on her hand glittered.

Kasen "Aah, yeah, that's right."

Kasen had a matching silver ring on her finger. They were both made by the same person and looked identical, but a small engraving on each ring made them easy to distinguish from each other. All sixteen of the rings that had been made were like this. Yuuka's symbol was a sunflower and Kasen's was food.

Yuuka "I would never have guessed I would end up in this kind of relationship with Rinnosuke. He's surprisingly not a bad partner."

Kasen "He seemed like a boring man with little to talk about, but now that we've grown closer I've come to realize how much more there is to him that I never noticed before."

Yuuka "He looks so frail and flimsy, but he's skilled at creating things and deft with his hands. He's strong when he needs to be. Though I'd only place him above Youmu in terms of raw power."

Kasen "And there's the way that he's so capable with some things, but with others - like cleaning and cooking - he's completely hopeless. He's also as stubbon as a child at times. It really makes me want to mother him."

Yuuka "Well, I guess to sum it up..."

Kasen "You and I both..."

They spoke together.

Yuuka & Kasen ""Love Rinnosuke.""


	9. Ch9 Alice and Chen

Alice "That's it. Don't rush it, nice and slow."

Chen "Nnyuu..."

Chen was working frantically as Alice coached her.

She was...

 _Tap, tap... GLOP!_

Chen "Ah!"

Alice "Ah..."

Cooking.

They were in Alice's home. Chen felt that she needed to be able to perform household chores now that she was Rinnosuke's wife, so she had asked Alice for help.

Chen can't do anything around the house. Thus far she had gotten by without cooking by gathering fruits and nuts from trees or catching fish from the river. When her clothing was dirty Ran would take it to be cleaned - as Chen's claws would shred the fabric if she tried to clean it herself - and her attempts to clean ended with something breaking 9 times out of 10. Ran had to take care of the cleaning too. Chen felt that being wed to Rinnosuke meant she needed to be able to do at least some things, so she had come to have lessons.

She had not asked Ran for help. It was unlikely Chen's master Ran would say no, but now that Chen was going to be living with Rinnosuke she hadn't felt right asking Ran to help her become more capable around the house.

So she had gone to Alice. Alice lived alone and was superior in all kinds of household chores, had a nice personality, was knowledgeable, and to Chen's thinking was the picture of an ideal woman - after Ran, of course.

Alice couldn't turn down Chen's request, and had agreed to help her immediately.

They began with cooking. Cooking was essential to living a healthy life, and the path to a man's heart was through his stomach, so beginning there seemed a good way for Chen to start building a repertoire of skills that would let her treat Rinnosuke to delicious foods that would leave him satisfied. It was a good first step towards being both a good woman and a good wife.

But... learning to cook was proving difficult. They had begun with cracking eggs, as starting with a knife or any other sharp utensil could be dangerous, but despite being Ran's shikigami Chen was having difficulty with even this task. She didn't seem to be skilled at controlling her strength, so she kept crushing eggs against the counter or making the eggs burst open in her hand. Egg shells and raw egg splatters were quickly filling the kitchen.

Chen "Aaah~"

Alice "Don't get down on yourself."

Alice gently wiped the sticky residue off of Chen.

Alice "Don't be so tense. Keep your hand relaxed."

Alice began to carefully demonstrate for her.

Alice "First you need to change how you hold it. Okay?"

Alice demonstrated how to hold the egg in her hand.

Alice "If you just want to crack the eggs, perhaps it would be best for you to tap two eggs together."

She then demonstrated cracking the eggs.

Alice "Now when you split the egg you want to use your pointer finger and your thumb. Place them in the center of the crack and pull to either side."

She then split the egg.

The golden yolk appeared from inside, suspended inside the egg white. It formed a beautiful teardrop shape before dropping gently into the center of the bowl.

Chen "Wow, that's amazing..."

Chen couldn't help but be awed by her skill. She couldn't believe the gap in their skill level even for something as simple as cracking eggs.

Alice "This is normal. You'll be able to do this in no time."

Chen "But why hit the eggs together? Wouldn't the corner of the counter be better?"

She pointed at the counter as she spoke. Alice answered immediately.

Alice "It would be easier to crack on the counter, yes, but since the counter edge is a sharp angle it's likely to force small bits of egg shell inside of the egg and damage the yolk. But if you tap the eggs together they're both rounded, so they will crack without sending fragments inside. "

Chen "Oooh..."

Alice "It's not that you absolutely have to tap the eggs together to crack them. Just use any rounded surface for the same result. It's just easiest to use two eggs. It's unlikely you'd ever have only one egg, after all."

Chen "I see."

Alice's ability to explain things simply made her a perfect cooking instructor.

With Alice's demonstration and advice in mind, Chen tried again.

She took two eggs and tapped them together, sending cracks through the shell. She'd become much more accustomed to holding eggs by now. Though her claws got in the way, she would likely get used to working around them in time.

Controlling her strength had been difficult for Chen, but as she practiced with ten, twenty, thirty eggs... she eventually got a grasp on how much power to use. She was eventually able to crack the eggs and remove the contents without breaking the yolk.

Chen "Haa... I did it, Alice!"

Alice "Well done, Chen."

She smiled and petted Chen's head, which Chen really enjoyed.

Chen continued to practice with cracking and splitting the eggs. After further practice Chen was no longer getting any shell into the egg whites as well as not breaking the yolks.

However they had used dozens of eggs to reach this point. Some of the eggs were a scrambled mess filled with shell fragments, while others could be used once the shell bits were pulled out. Alice would now use the eggs to make something so as not to waste them.

Chen "Nyuu..."

Chen slumped with disappointment and guilt, but Alice didn't seem upset in the least.

Alice "It's okay, just leave it to me."

Alice got to work.

Living on her own had given her plenty of time to master her housework, and her skills were so renowned that she was in the top three choices for women that the village men would like to marry. Her motions were smooth and fast. She used chopsticks to pluck out each shell fragment, then seasoned the eggs with salt, sugar, and mayonnaise before mixing the contents of the bowl. She added oil to a hot frying pan and rotated the pan to coat the entire surface, then she poured in the egg mixture. She mixed the eggs inside the pan to help it cook more evenly, then let it spread into a flat surface. Before the underside began to brown she flipped and folded the eggs in on the center, using a snappy wrist motion to move the pan to aid in this.

Alice "Here, that's the first one."

Before Chen knew what happened she'd finished an omelet. She'd taken less than five minutes from start to finish.

Chen "Wow..."

She spoke without meaning to.

The omelet was beautiful. It was a pristine yellow without a single browned spot. It glistened in the light. Chopsticks could easily sink into the soft egg and spread it open to reveal the half-cooked egg inside. She took a bite and the egg melted on her tongue. The other ingredients that had been added to the egg amplified the egg flavor and accented it in such a way that it was completely balanced and delicious to the point there was no need to add ketchup.

Chen "This is delicious!"

She was so shocked at the flavor, which neither won out over or lost to Ran's cooking, that tears sprang into her eyes. She couldn't believe that such a soft, melting, delicious omelet could be created by someone other than Ran.

Alice "I'm glad."

After that she continued to cook.

Cheese-filled rolled eggs, pepper-spiced egg soup, lettuce and soft-cooked scrambled egg sandwich, crispy fried rice with egg, onion and thin-sliced sausage scrambed eggs. She continued to swiftly whip up all kinds of egg-based dishes.

Chen just stared in wonder at how easily and efficiently Alice moved about the kitchen.

Chen "How can you cook so well, Alice?"

She asked between bites of food.

Alice "My mother taught me."

With a deft snap of her wrist she sent the eggs in the pan skyward.

Chen "Your mother? Your actual mother?"

Alice "That's right. My mother in Makai."

Alice's mother is the god of Makai. Her name is Shinki. She created the Makai and everything within it. Alice is one of those creations, thus making Shinki her mother. Though different from a normal birth, there was no mistake that Shinki was the mother of Alice.

While Shinki may have created the Makai and its residents, that did not mean she could do anything. She wasn't in a position to command the society within the Makai. She could offer advice and give warnings, but she could not decide matters or change the rules and laws of society at will. However she was still the only god of the Makai, and therefore an irreplaceable presence.

Shinki absolutely adored Alice. Alice had loved Shinki in return when she was a child, and the two had called each other "Alice-chan" and "Mama" just as a normal mother and child would. Alice was Shinki's beloved daughter. Yuuka, another former resident of the Makai, knows the Alice of this period.

Even after growing up and finding a dream to chase - to leave Makai and go to Gensoukyou on her own - Alice continued to live by the lessons that Shinki had taughter her. She continued her magic research as well.

In order to live on her own she had learned all of the skills necessary to take care of herself from Shinki. Cooking, cleaning, and laundry were the core skills she had learned to a competent level before coming to Gensoukyou, but as a result of her serious nature and desire to excel she had continued to develop her skills to reach her current level. She had even moved on from those base skills and taken up household skills like sewing - which had allowed her to make Shanghai dolls.

Unaware of what she was doing, Alice had learned all of the skills that wives were expected to have. If she should end up marrying she'd be well prepared.

So when Shinki learned that Alice had in fact married she felt joy more than surprise. While having her daughter get married did make Shinki feel lonely and uncertain, she watched their wedding and applauded with tears in her eyes. She watched with a smile as her daughter set off for a new adventure on the back of a nine-tailed fox.

Now that Alice was married Shinki found herself wanting a grandchild. Once the idea of having a grandchild entered her mind she couldn't stop herself from sending Alice letters with suggestions for baby names, various clothes and goods for babies, and she even began sending Makai aphrodisiacs and drugs to stimulate ovulation. Alice honestly wished she would stop. When she opened the packages and discovered the contents it made things quite uncomfortable.

Alice had no intention of using any of it, and she didn't want a child any time soon. She was already married, and even if she had plenty of competition for time with her husband it's not like she would never have a chance. She decided to just be patient.

Plus she had more pressing issues than making children. She was busy making a lunch for Rinnosuke, who was working hard to build their house.

Alice "This and this..."

Once Alice and Chen finished their meal, Alice began picking egg dishes to use in Rinnosuke's lunch. Having visitors aside from Marisa had been rare for Alice, and she'd certainly never thought she'd be packing a lunch for a man. In fact Alice had come to know Rinnosuke through Marisa. If she were to describe her relationship with Rinnosuke she would like have simply said he was an acquaintance - a stranger, but one that she knew to a slight degree.

But then a certain event changed all of that. Rinnosuke's thoughtless action made Alice aware of him as a man, and then with lightning speed things progressed until Alice found herself married to him.

Alice (I really can't believe it. I'm married.)

Alice hadn't had any real desire to get married. She had only thought she might get married one day. Her friendship with Marisa had often been mistaken for more than what it was by others. While they were certainly close, there wasn't a hint of the romance that people seemed to imagine. Alice didn't feel that way about Marisa in the least. She was just like any other normal girl in terms of her romantic interests.

And Rinnosuke wasn't bad. Alice had thought he was rather cool, but that was all. She thought he looked pretty good, but she hadn't felt a romantic spark or thought that she would come to dislike him.

And now she was married to him. She was his wife. Well, one of his wives anyways. Chen was another of his wives. This must be what it feels like to get married while little more than a child.

But she had come to understand one thing.

Being married was nice.

Men had approached Alice to ask if she would date them with the intention of marriage, but she had always found a reason to firmly refuse them. Shinki had even sent along pictures of potential suitors and made plans for Alice to meet with them.

The men had all been sons of noble families in the Makai or other such distinguished positions. They hadn't been unpleasant in terms of looks or personality, they had achievements and showed promise for achieving much in the future. There should be no problem in marrying any of them, but Alice turned them all down because she felt no interest in getting married.

That was what she said, anyways.

In truth she was scared. Scared of marriage and of being together with anyone.

If she got married she would be swearing to spend her life with her partner. Once they were married they would be together all the time, and her time alone would disappear. And Alice was a woman. It was likely that in getting married she would be expected to leave her home and move into the home of her husband. That would mean leaving Gensoukyou and returning to Makai. That would mean an end to seeing Marisa. For Alice that was simply too much, so she had turned down every suitor. It had also made her dislike the idea of marriage and left her scared of the idea of having a husband.

And then Rinnosuke suddenly came into her life. While reading in the shade of a tree near her home Rinnosuke had come upon her. She had first been surprised to see him outside, as he was usually cooped up inside of the Kourindou, but what was even more surprising was his unexpected embrace.

She was definitely surprised by that. Shocked, actually. She would never have imagined such a thing happening.

Alice (His hands are so big... Rinnosuke really is a man.)

It was her first time touching a man's hands.

They were large,

hard,

rough,

and completely lacking in the softness that her own hands had, but she didn't dislike it. In the books she had read the women had found men's hands to be scary and unpleasant, and even Shinki had avoided the attentions of any men that came around.

But when Rinnosuke touched her she didn't feel that. She stiffended with surprised, but she didn't dislike it. In fact the warmth of Rinnosuke's hands was strangely calming and relaxing. It was pleasant.

That was probably what caused it.

What made Alice begin to see Rinnosuke as a man.

And perhaps what made her feel the beginnings of love.

If it was love, she should invite him to dinner, go on dates, give him presents, write him love letters, or any number of things... but having never been in love before, Alice didn't know what to do. In the end she was unable to do anything. So to have Rinnosuke come to her and then give up her chance and run away was one of her great regrets.

Her next opportunity came a few weeks later. At the banquet held at the Moriya shrine.

Apparently Rinnosuke had tested out a variety of things that were written in a book with various girls, girls like Yuugi and Kagerou that Alice knew of by name but had never met, and now many of them were feeling the same emotions as Alice. Rinnosuke hadn't intended for that to be the effect of his trials.

The girls and Rinnosuke had all been suffering with complex emotions after his actions, but since Rinnosuke had gone so far as to have a banquet to apologize to all of them - and since they had been running away and making it impossible for him to apologize in any other way - they had each decided to let the matter be settled.

But after that Eirin's drug-laced food and drink made everyone cross a very important line. To have her first time in such a manner... wasn't bad. She was slightly disappointed that they hadn't been alone together and in a more romantic setting, as that was the typical image she'd had of such acts, but in the end what happened had happened, and ultimately the mood didn't seem to be all that important after all. As long as it felt good that was enough.

And in the end Rinnosuke had taken responsibility for what happened by marrying everyone, including Alice. In Gensoukyou there was no law stating that a marriage could only be between one man and one woman. While there were no examples of people deviating from that standard, it didn't mean that people could not do so. There was no problem with him marrying any number of women. Human society might look at it askance, but seeing as over half of the women were not human and were therefore already used to that treatment, they hardly cared. It wasn't something to bother worrying about.

People could say whatever they wanted. It wouldn't change the feeling of love that Alice felt for Rinnosuke.

Alice "Okay, all done."

Alice finished preparing her handmade lunch. She'd made so many egg dishes that she only way she could fit them all was to use a large 5-level bento box. Of course, with Rinnosuke working so hard to build their new home and being a half-youkai, he should have a rather strong appetite. A large egg and love filled lunch would work wonders to heal his physical and emotional fatigue.

Alice "Alright, let's get going."

Chen "Okay!"

They departed together with smiles on their faces.

Heading towards the man they love.


	10. Ch10 Tokiko

Tokiko "Haa..."

Tokiko was troubled. So troubled that she was certain she had never felt this way before.

Tokiko was currently in her own room at the Kourindou. She was stretched out on the bed with arms and legs spread wide as she looked up at the ceiling. Even though it was midday the room was dark with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off. A single beam of light made it through a gap in the curtains to illuminate Tokiko.

The warm light made Tokiko's skin glow a soft pink, but her expression was dark and her emotions were depressed to match.

She rolled over. Her gaze shifted to the desk that Rinnosuke had made for her. He hadn't made just the desk, but also the bed, closet, dresser, stuffed animals, and even the clothes she was wearing now. Rinnosuke had made everything in the room. He was able to make any number of things from the scraps he gathered at Muenzuka.

Tokiko "Mm."

She reached over to the desk and picked up a picture frame. Rinnosuke made that too. The frame held a single photograph. The photo showed three figures standing in front of the Kourindou.

One was Morichika Rinnosuke.

Another was Kamishirasawa Keine.

The final figure was Tokiko.

Shameimaru had taken the photo to test out her camera after having it repaired by Rinnosuke. It was just at the one year mark since Tokiko had begun living at the Kourindou, and since Rinnosuke and Keine had also been there they'd all had their photo taken together. The picture looked a bit like a family photo.

At the time Rinnosuke wasn't married and Tokiko wasn't his daughter. Keine likely had feelings for Rinnosuke already, and Rinnosuke certainly didn't dislike having Keine around to help him. Tokiko had noticed all of that

Tokiko "Looking at us like this... we really do look like a family."

She muttered to herself while looking at the photo.

And they really did look like a family. Their hair color was similar, their clothing styles matched, and to anyone looking at them they would look like a normal family. Even Tokiko, who certainly knew better, couldn't help but think they looked related.

But she couldn't think that now. Now it felt completely unnatural.

Because now Tokiko is married to Rinnosuke. The ring that went on her left hand was her proof of that. Tokiko was now Rinnosuke's wife. Keine as well. On the day of their wedding they had gone from being unrelated but strangely familial to being an actual family. But Tokiko's heart felt heavy with uncertainty.

She wasn't upset about being married to Rinnosuke. Rather it was her relationship with Keine that left Tokiko feeling so out of place. She had always been like a mother to Tokiko - even teaching her to cook and helping her with her studies. They had truly been like mother and daughter. Tokiko had been happy with that, but now that they were both married to Rinnosuke it would be impossible to return to that - or so she thought.

Tokiko "What am I supposed to do..."

Which is why she was so worried.

While Rinnosuke was working on building their new home, Tokiko was tasked with watching over the Kourindou. Since Keine had her teaching duties to attend to Tokiko was all alone. The Kourindou didn't see many customers, so it was always silent within. Keine had left tupperware filled with meals for her to eat. At first she had sat at the store counter as Rinnosuke did, but she quickly became so bored that she spent most of her time in her room instead. If anyone did happen to visit the store the bell on the door would warn her.

Tokiko (So it's this quiet without Rinnosuke around...)

She'd had no idea about anything before coming here. About Rinnosuke or Keine. She'd only begun to learn about them after. She'g begun to grow closer to both of them and learned some things from Ran. But there was a lot she still didn't know. Especially about Rinnosuke.

Tokiko "Rinnosuke..."

Tokiko has no past. More specifically, she has no memories of her past. She remembers nothing from before meeting Rinnosuke. It seemed she had amnesia and could no longer remember her life from before. There were two types of amnesia - either a physical impact made her mind lose access to her memories, or an emotional shock had created a barrier inside her mind. In Tokiko's case she didn't even know which type of amnesia she had. At the time her clothing had been shredded and her body covered in wounds, so a physical trauma seemed likely... but Eirin hadn't been able to state with certainty after looking over her.

To Tokiko's perception time had only started when Rinnosuke picked up her ragged, beaten form.

Her first impression of him was that he was a kind stranger. He was a strange, sour-faced man who picked her up. He was either a man who was too kind for his own good or just a plain weirdo. That was her first impression of Rinnosuke. Of course, with her odd number of wings she couldn't really call anyone else weird. Especially since she had no memories. She didn't even know if there was meaning behind her wings.

Despite this she didn't find it all that difficult to begin a new life.

When her wounds healed and she could get around on her own, Tokiko departed the Kourindou. Rinnosuke gave her clothes and shoes as a parting gift. The clothes she had been wearing were rags, so he had created a similar outfit from scratch. The sizing of everything was perfect. She had no idea where she would go, but she felt confident that she could do well. During her recovery she had begun to read books that were in the shop. There were stories, of course, but also books on fishing, identifying edible mushrooms and fruits, and detailed information on various species. Thanks to her reading she never ate anything she shouldn't, but another matter troubled her instead.

At that time she still had not been taught how to cook by Keine - in fact she hadn't even _met_ Keine. Tokiko didn't have even an ounce of cooking knowledge, as Rinnosuke hadn't kept any books on cooking in the store.

Even without a flint she managed to start a fire. With enough strength just rubbing two sticks together would eventually get a fire going. As long as you could get an ember dry leaves would let you produce a flame.

She decided that simply roasting her food over the flame would be the best approach, so she skewered some mushrooms and put them over the fire. Of course having no idea what she was doing they blackened and burned. Her cooking attempts generally resulted in ashes. Even just peeling fruit that she found was more than she could handle, so she often ended up eating the peel or rind of the fruit as well, which upset her stomach.

For her sleeping place she found a large tree with an opening at the base. Thanks to the feathers on the back and head she had some padding, but even with them her chosen sleeping place was awful. She couldn't stretch out or change position, so her back and hips would ache through the night. Sleeping on hard wood instead of a bed was taking a toll, but she had no money and no other options. Fortunately the sun could reach her fairly easily, and as long as she covered herself with a cloth at night she could generally keep dry when it rained. There was also a small pool nearby where rain water collected, so she had something to drink.

In terms of surviving there weren't any real problems.

...But that was only in terms of surviving.

There was nothing else there.

No books.

Nobody to talk to.

It was an endless cycle of eating and sleeping.

She felt as though she would go insane.

The books in Rinnosuke's store had said that staying alive was the most difficult and painful thing of all, but now that Tokiko had experienced it for herself she could say with certainty that _just_ surviving and doing nothing else was true suffering.

She couldn't remember how long she lived like that. At some point her clothes were filthy again and her shoes were worn ragged from use.

She wasn't sure what she would do there, but she found herself wanting to go back to the Kourindou. Going empty-handed left an unpleasant taste in her mouth, so she picked a bunch of fruits to take with her.

Nothing had changed at the Kourindou since the last time she had been there. Rinnosuke was sitting behind the counter as always reading a book.

When Tokiko walked into the store he looked up and he mouthed a silent "Oh" in surprised when he realized who it was.

Rinnosuke "It's been a while."

Tokiko "I guess so."

It was her first time talking in ages.

In fact this may be her first conversation with Rinnosuke at all. Her first time facing him and speaking to him directly.

Being back inside the Kourindou made her remember the time before. Just as then her body was covered in wounds, her clothes were ragged, and barring her health she was in the same condition as when Rinnosuke had picked her up before.

Thinking about it like that, Tokiko couldn't help but smile.

It was in that moment that Tokiko knew she had finally formed a new memory.

After that Tokiko began to visit the Kourindou more frequently. If she stayed in her tree-home she had nothing to do, whereas the Kourindou had books and Rinnosuke would talk with her from time to time. At some point he began to offer her tea and snacks when she came.

It seemed there were quite a few more customers than one would think. Unfortunately that included Reimu, who never paid her tab; Marisa, who just took things outright; and Yukari who appeared from the shadows to mess with Rinnosuke. Compared to those others Tokiko may actually have been a preferred customer. Tokiko was quiet, didn't take things, and most importantly loved books - a trait that made Rinnosuke feel she must be a good person.

Keine came to the store on the weekends. The days when the human village children didn't have school.

Tokiko was surprised to discover that Rinnosuke knew such a beautiful woman.

Keine was surprised to discover that such a cute girl was coming to see Rinnosuke.

Keine had actually come while Tokiko was recovering at the Kourindou, but Tokiko had been asleep and Keine had been too busy thinking about Rinnosuke to realize the girl existed. They met for the first time when they both came to the store one weekend.

Tokiko had never seen anyone but Rinnosuke here, and Keine too had never seen anyone but Rinnosuke here, so when the two encountered each other they froze in place for a while. They were standing in place like statues when Rinnosuke - competely unaware of what was going on - called out to them and snapped them back to reality.

Tokiko guessed with a single look.

Keine was guarded against her. She just had that feeling. Keine smiled when she spoke to Tokiko, but Tokiko had a feeling that her smile and voice were different when Tokiko wasn't around.

Nevertheless to Tokiko's eyes Keine was a beautiful woman. She could cook, clean, wash clothes, teach, and do any number of things that Tokiko could not. Tokiko was jealous of her. Keine also taught children in the village, so to Tokiko she was the image of a capable book-reading adult woman.

But now they were both married to Rinnosuke. They had become equals. But still Tokiko wasn't sure if she should be standing beside Rinnosuke as a woman. She could read books, but she wasn't particularly good at learning, her cleaning skills were lacking, and she was still learning to cook from Keine. She was hardly qualified to be a wife.

If she was going to stand alongside Rinnosuke she should be more capable, so she had begun to practice in an attempt to catch up to Keine, but she was far from her goal. The things that Ran had taught to Keine would take a great deal of time for Tokiko to learn on her own.

At the time she had gone along with everyone else and accepted the ring and marriage proposal, but now she couldn't stop thinking that she didn't deserve to be with Rinnosuke. With that doubt constantly filling her mind she couldn't bring herself to wear the ring he had made, so it sat atop her desk.

Several years had passed since Tokiko began living at the Kourindou. It had begun with her reading too late and it getting dark or a sudden storm making it dangerous to return home, so Rinnosuke had set up a bed for her to stay the night. But each time it happened he would have to move things around and get the futon out, so eventually he said "Why don't you just live here?"

Tokiko (I guess that was the start.)

After that Tokiko's home changed from a lonely hole in a tree to the Kourindou. For a while she did just as before, reading constantly and occasionally helping around the store. Stacking and sorting goods or watching the store while Rinnosuke went to Muenzuka.

A while after Tokiko began sleeping in the Kourindou Rinnosuke built her bedroom. He built the second floor of the Kourindou - originally a one-story building. Rinnosuke made the construction blueprints, prepared the materials needed, and constructed everything entirely on his own. He even had to open a hole in the roof of the store to put in the staircase. But having already constructed the Kourindou on his own, adding on a second floor was child's play for Rinnosuke. It took him about ten days in total.

The new staircase lead to a corridor, at the end of which was a fairly large room. The room was already furnished with furniture and was ready to be lived in as soon as the construction of the second floor ended.

It made her happy.

Tokiko (I really was so happy then...)

The materials gathered from the Muenzuka were scraps and trash, but they looked as beautiful as brand new materials with the added bonus of having a gentle familiarity from long use. The chair was comfortable to sit in for long periods, the desk could be adjusted to suit Tokiko's height, and the clothing was all cute.

If asked if her life had changed since getting married, Tokiko wouldn't be able to say that it had. Rinnosuke wasn't around much due to the construction, true, but Keine still came by to cook dinner as usual or left food in the refrigerator for Tokiko to reheat. Most of the people that Tokiko knew were also married to Rinnosuke now, so while they didn't come around the store much it had nothing to do with her being married to Rinnosuke.

In other words the only thing that had changed was Tokiko's feelings. And there was nothing anyone else could do about that. Not even Rinnosuke and Keine, who were practically her family.

She would have to resolve this uncertainty on her own.

And she knew that. Unfortunately knowing didn't make doing it any easier.

Tokiko "I wonder if this is the marriage blues they talked about in that book... But isn't that more for someone about to get married?"

Marriage blues.

It was a sudden onset of anxiety and depression that people about to get married experienced. It was caused by doubts about the marriage and if you were really meant to be together, or if you would be happy together, or if you'd be able to properly raise children together. Some people were so overwhelmed by these doubts about the future that they would end up canceling the marriage altogether. It seemed that in recent years some people experienced this after having already gone through with the marriage.

There was no treatment or cure for this.

The methods for handling it varied from person to person. Exercising, eating well, soaking in a hot bath, distracting yourself with fun things, etc. Essentually finding something to focus on instead of the doubts and fears.

However Tokiko couldn't get relief from any of it. She didn't want to exercise, she already ate well every day, she bathed, and she read books to distract herself, but the distraction never lasted for long.

Marriage blues were caused by thinking too much, so not thinking about the future and letting the doubts build was the best way to make it stop. However the more Tokiko tried to stop thinking the more the doubts grew.

At this point there was nothing anyone else could do to help her.

It was her problem, and it was an entirely emotional problem, which meant she would have to resolve it on her own. The problem was that she couldn't figure out how to resolve it.

What finally pulled Tokiko out of the maze of her mind was thinking of the tree that she had once lived inside.

Tokiko "That's right... since living here I haven't gone back to look at it even once. I wonder what's happened to it."

She had brought her things back from there when she began to live at the Kourindou, but it wasn't as though she had many possessions to begin with.

Tokiko "I guess I'll go look. Not like any customers are going to come anyways."

She got up out of her bed and made her way out of the Kourindou for the first time in a while.

Tokiko "Aah, it's so bright."

Going from the dim depths of her room out into the brilliant light of the sun left her blinded.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh air left Tokiko feeling somewhat refreshed.

She did some gentle stretches and opened the wings that had been closed tight against her back. She'd spent so much time in her bed lately that her bloodflow had been kept only at the bare minimum, so now she stretched and ruffled her wings to get a fresh surge of blood circulating throughout. As proper sensation returned to her wings she began to look more like her real self.

The majority of those in Gensoukyou could fly, and oftentimes those with wings didn't actually need them to fly. But Tokiko preferred to move her wings to fly. It felt more like true flight that way.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Breathing it out slowly, she took another deep breath and began to float. Her feet began to drift away from the ground and when she felt that she could no longer reach the ground...

Tokiko "Okay."

She opened her eyes and flew forward powerfully.

Even though she had been shut up inside of the Kourindou for quite a while she didn't feel tired from flying at full speed. She felt like she must have run into a fairy or sprite along the way, but it was likely just her imagination.

Tokiko "There it is..."

She came upon the tree she had lived in and found that it looked just the same as before. The roots and trunk were thick, the branches leafless. It showed no signs of rot or decay - it was still very much alive. She wasn't sure if it had always been without leaves or if it had stopped growing them some time before she first came across it.

Her rain-collection pool was still there, but now flowers had begun to grow around it. If she looked around she was sure she could find the same edible mushrooms and fruits as before.

Tokiko "Hm... Mmf..."

She began to climb the tree. When she had first come to live here she hadn't been accustomed to the feeling of flying, so she had been forced to climb. She could fly now, but she climbed to remember how it felt in the past. A short way above the ground was the cavity in the tree which had been her home.

Tokiko "Got it."

The hole was there just as she remembered. It was filled with leaves and trash that had been blown in over the years of her absence. It was a pain, but she cleaned the refuse out to reveal the cavity she had slept in.

With the cavity opened once more she attempted to climb inside.

Tokiko "Mm... mmmm~~!"

It was difficult. She had slid right inside in the past. Perhaps she'd gained some weight.

She eventually managed to crawl inside of the hollow in the tree, but she really must have gained weight because it was a tighter fit than she remembered. It was easier to lay down than to try to sit, so she lay down in the hollow. She lay on her back with her hands behind her head as a pillow and an animal skin as a blanket. The skin was the hide of a dead bear that she'd found and skinned. She'd eaten what she could of the bear, but leaving the hide to rot felt like a waste so she'd kept it as a blanket. It reeked of blood and she despised it - so much so that the blanket she had at Rinnosuke's house was one of her most beloved possessions. The smell never went away so she woke each morning smelling of old blood. She would go wash herself off each day to try and remove the stench, which had put her at risk of getting sick more than once. The hide was still in the hollow.

Thanks to the hide she had managed to endure the cold, but she had never quite adjusted to being alone. When the moon was out it glowed brilliantly in the sky, and when it was a new moon she had loved watching the stars shine from her hollow.

The worst nights were the cloudy, silent nights. There were no stars, no moonlight, and no sounds at all. On those nights she wrapped herself in the hide and waited for morning.

She had been truly alone. Even the slightest sound on those nights would make her begin to panic. It was so bad that she actually preferred when it stormed.

Tokiko "Actually, this is fairly close..."

The sun was still out, but nobody was around, the forest was silent, and she was huddled inside of her hollow wrapped in the clothes Rinnosuke had made her from an animal pelt. The air was still, so without even the rustling of leaves it truly felt like she was experiencing one of those nights.

Tokiko "But why did I end up living in Rinnosuke's house..."

Her life in the forest had been rough, that much was certain. There had been times where she had no food, and she had struggled to remain clothed. She was completely alone, but she still knew that her lifestyle in the forest was hardly normal.

Rinnosuke had no idea how she had lived during that period. She'd never told him, and he had never asked. So how had she ended up living with him? She hadn't asked him.

Tokiko "Hm?"

She rolled over as she pondered and her eye caught on something.

Tokiko "What is that...?"

Small grooves in the wood that looked to be a carving of some sort. The tree's growth had made them faint, but by wetting the wood with some saliva the area darkened and the carving began more apparent. After rubbing her finger over the carving and squinting her eyes she realized what it was.

Tokiko "Ah..."

It was a humanoid form.

She realized what it was immediately.

Tokiko "Rin...nosuke..."

She remembered.

It was during a series of cloudy nights. She felt as if she was losing her mind from the cold and loneliness. The only person she could remember was Rinnosuke. That Rinnosuke had come sat next to her as she shivered. He had simply read a book, but just having him nearby was enough. It was enough to make the shaking stop and ease the loneliness crushing her heart so she could sleep. She woke in the morning to find that Rinnosuke was nowhere to be seen.

There was no way that Rinnosuke had come to this tiny hollow. She knew that. It was a dream or a hallucination, but it had still made the loneliness leave.

While the sun was up she had carved an image of Rinnosuke into the wood. Her memory wasn't great, but Rinnosuke was the only person she knew, so his face stood out. The size of his eyes, the shape of his nose, his hairstyle... she had carved every detail she could remember into the wood. She didn't have any tools for this, of course, so she'd used her own fingernails to carve. She remembered her fingernails ripping and tearing as she went, but she hadn't stopped. By the time she finished several of her fingers were bleeding, but the pain seemed to make it more worthwhile.

After that day she wasn't alone. When she went to sleep Rinnosuke was always by her side. Even on the nights when it was pitch black, she knew that Rinnosuke was there to keep the fear at bay.

Tokiko "...Ah! That's righ- OW!"

She sat up quickly and hit her head on the tree.

Tokiko "Owww... That's right, I remember now! Rinnosuke asked if I would live at the Kourindou..."

At the time she had gone to the Kourindou several times and stayed late each time, not wanting to return to the tree, and eventually Rinnosuke said:

Rinnosuke "If you like it here so much, why don't you just live here?"

Tokiko "Is that okay? I can't do anything, and I don't remember anything."

Rinnosuke "Sure, why not. You don't take stuff or cause a fuss like Reimu and the others. And it's just me here, so having a girl like you come live here wouldn't change much."

She remembered feeling it clearly. She had been spiraling through lonely darkness for so long, but now a single beam of light appeared. When she took his hand the warmth of it melted her frozen heart.

Tokiko "Haa... what am I doing."

The same left hand she had used to take his hand back then now bore her wedding ring.

She wasn't the same girl from back then. She'd been living alongside Rinnosuke all this time, and now she was finally his family.

And yet she had been hiding in her room, neglecting the store, and had even come all the way back out here to wallow in her old wounds.

She owed Rinnosuke an apology.

Rinnosuke was working hard to build a new home for them. He'd entrusted Tokiko with tending to the store in his absence. Not Keine, Ran, or any of his other wives - he'd chosen her. And he'd not given her a spare key as he had done with Keine and the others. He'd given her one of the two original keys.

Tokiko "...Okay!"

She took the hide and flew out of the tree hollow. The entrance to the hollow caught on her as she left, but she forced her way out roughly. The tree began to crack as the hollow widened.

She flew up a ways and stopped. She took the ragged hide and crumpled it into a ball, then set fire to it with her magic.

Tokiko "And that's... that!"

She lobbed the bundle of hide towards the tree, the flames engulfing it as it flew through the air.

The flaming pelt landed among the branches of the leafless tree and small flames immediately began to appear along the bark. Before long the tree was ablaze, assisted by the fats in the animal hide.

She watched from up in the sky as the fire began to roar as it consumed the tree.

Tokiko (This is okay. It's done.)

She was severing her ties to her past loneliness.

And she was distinguishing herself from how she used to be.

 _I'm not who I used to be. I'm not alone. I'm not lonely. I'm an adult and I have Rinnosuke as my wonderful husband._

As she watched the tree crumble into ash she felt something cold disappear from her chest.

She could feel it. She was capable of walking on her own now. Well, she was with Rinnosuke, so she wasn't truly on her own. She would be walking with Rinnosuke from now on. Well... with Rinnosuke and all of the other wives...? That was quite a pack of people to be walking with, but with so many people she was certainly not going to be feeling lonely any time soon. It sounded fun.

Tokiko "I need to get back to the store. Everyone else is doing what they're supposed to, after all."

She went back to the Kourindou and sat behind the counter.

It was her duty right now, and the first task that her husband had entrusted her with as his wife.


	11. Ch11 The Beginnings of Family

[Note: The point of view in this story jumps around a lot. There will be some sections in first-person from Rinnosuke's perspective followed by third-person omniscient narration of what other characters think and feel. Just keep in mind that any narration that uses first-person is Rinnosuke.]

Half a year had passed since I began construction. On the 185th day I was finally nearing completion. The only thing left to do was apply the final outer panels.

Rinnosuke "Just need to connect this..."

The final construction task was completed with a click.

Rinnosuke "Alright, that's it."

I couldn't help but smile at finishing my work.

Keine "All done, Rinnosuke?"

Keine was standing off to the side.

Rinnosuke "Yep, it's finished."

Ran "Not yet."

Ran walked forward and held something towards me. It was a single wooden plank.

Rinnosuke "What's this?"

Ran "It's a nameplate. It goes near the entrance and lists the name of the residents. It lets anyone see with a glance that this house belongs to us."

The board already had writing on it. It was only the two kanji characters for Morichika.

Rinnosuke "Huh? But there isn't room to list everyone else on here. Even if we used the back we'd only fit four or five..."

Ran "There's no need to do that. We're all married to you, so your name is now our name. Just having Morichika is enough."

Rinnosuke "Oh, I see..."

Keine "Let's just get it put up."

She lightly pushed me in the back.

Rinnosuke "Okay, okay."

I walked to the entryway, which was quite wide to accomodate the many residents the house would have, and drove a nail through the nameplate and into the wall just off to the side. This was truly the final task of building the house.

Rinnosuke "We'll really be finished now."

I tugged at the edges of the nameplate to make sure it was securely held to the wall.

Our new home was finally complete.

Ran "I'll let everyone know."

Ran held out a hand and flicked her fingers upward, sending a pellet streaking into the sky. She snapped her fingers and the pellet exploded to create a beautiful flower of light.

It was a firework that at once celebrated the completion of the house and also served as an announcement to the others that the construction had been completed. And the girls of course took notice.

Seija "So it's finally finished."

Yamame "Ah, a firework."

Kasen "It's about time."

My wives.

The first ones to learn of the house's completion, aside from Ran and Keine, were the three closest: Seija, Yamame, and Kasen. Yamame was skilled at building things, and Kasen was quite strong, so the two of them had helped out - but Seija had never once helped us, instead staying in the trees nearby and teasing us. But considering the baby that Seija carried it made sense. She wasn't a particularly strong girl in the first place, and giving birth had taken a lot out of her. Not to mention that she had a baby to take care of, so there was no way they could risk her getting hurt and being unable to care for the child. I knew all too well that a mother was irreplaceable. I didn't want to take my child's mother away for even a moment.

Though I must admit that I wish she would stop heckling us so much. I'm worried her child will pick up that bad habit.

Ran's firework alerted the more distant wives as well.

Akyuu "Seems they're done."

Kosuzu "Let's head over there, Akyuu."

Akyuu and Kosuzu were over in the human village.

Kagerou "Hurry up, Sekibanki."

Sekibanki "I know, I know, stop pulling on me."

Kagerou and Sekibanki were in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

Yuuka "At last."

Yuuka was in the Garden of the Sun.

Chen "Look, they launched the firework."

Alice "Yeah, I see it."

Chen and Alice were in the Forest of Magic.

Tokiko "Guess I'll be closing the store early today."

Tokiko was watching over the Kourindou.

Yuugi "Let's go, Mitori!"

Mitori "...Yeah."

Unable to see the firework from the Underworld, Yuugi was informed by Suika and went to Mitori to pass on the message.

Everyone began to move towards the house after learning of its completion. Several had given birth like Seija or had large, pregnant bellies like Keine.

Suika "Seeing everyone together in one place really has an impact, huh..."

Nitori "Y-Yeah, it really does, Suika-sama."

Suika was perched atop the roof of the house. She was looking down at the array of beings that gathered at the entrance of the house.

A were-hakutaku;

the sage's shikigami, a nine-tailed fox;

the nine-tailed fox's own shikigami, a nekomata;

the amanojaku that plotted to overthrow the order of Gensoukyou;

one of the Big Four of the Mountain, a powerful one-horned oni;

another of the Big Four of the Mountain, and another oni, though this one's main strength was her ability to nag;

the Flower Master who was one of the most powerful youkai around;

the Doll Master who was skilled at everything from combat to household chores and looked beautiful as well;

a Tsuchigumo that could control disease, but who was apparently not immune to the sickness called love;

the half sister of Nitori whose life was filled with such struggle that it was impossible to not sympathize with her, the half Red Kappa;

the Rokurokubi who could get along with human and youkai alike;

the man-eating Werewolf that loves humans but also doesn't love them;

Suika had never seen such a gathering of different youkai in a single place in Gensoukyou before. There was so much magical energy gathered together in one place that it was almost inevitable that something would happen. If they all worked together not even an oni like Suika would be able to stop them. Reimu could handle any of them on their own, but all at once...

She also couldn't help but feel some pity for the two human girls that were down amidst the others. The 9th head of Hieda and the single daughter of Suzunaan. They were both remarkably talented for humans, but compared to the youkai around them they were like leaves caught in a maelstrom. They could be swallowed whole at any time.

Of course that would only happen if the two had a fight with the others. The girls down below knew each other, and even if they did not someone would be able to step in as an intermediary. Regardless of their individual pasts they were gathered together here as equals and would be seeing each other daily from now on.

But one member of the group drew Suika's gaze.

Suika "..."

The girl who had become a recognized figure at the Kourindou, who had two wings on her back and one on her head. She had the same love of books as me and the same exuberance as Keine. You wouldn't believe it by looking at her petite frame, but she could consume two to five times as much as an adult with ease. Forty onigiri, thirty rice bowls, or four hundred refills of soba noodles. Just where did she put it all? It was truly a mystery.

Speaking of mysteries, she was full of them. She didn't remember anything from the time before I found her, and neither the Hieda records nor the Tengu - both of whom had been watching over Gensoukyou and recording history for ages - had anything that hinted at her origins.

Because of that mystery there was a certain feeling of discomfort when around her. The one who felt this most strongly wasn't Suika, but rather another oni - Yuugi. Yuugi had gone to the Kourindou to arm wrestle on Setsubun - the last day of winter - and had squared off against the girl. Tokiko's arms were thin and frail to the point it seemed she might snap if Yuugi applied too much force. Considering that Yuugi was one of the Big Four of the Mountain by merit of her incredible strength it was clear to anyone watching that Tokiko was going to lose soundly.

The result of the match was, as expected, that Yuugi won.

Following the match they took a break and Tokiko began to binge eat ehomaki sushi.

Yuugi had won cleanly, but sweat had broken out across her brow. Immediately after the start of their match neither of their arms had moved. Yuugi's arm had wavered slightly at the force of Tokiko's best effort. Their arms tilted in Tokiko's favor before stopping and slowly returning to the start position. Then their arms began to tilt in Yuugi's favor. Tokiko struggled to stop her, but in the end her arm went down as she lost. It was the result that everyone had anticipated.

But it was not what Yuugi had expected at all.

She told the other oni on the way home. While everyone at the Kourindou had thought her struggle against Tokiko was just an act, the truth is that it had been real. It was likely that Yuugi had just been caught off guard and exaggerating a bit. I knew that Tokiko had strength, but even taking that into account there was no way she could compete with Yuugi.

In the end Yuugi had won, but to have struggled for even a moment in a battle of strength, to have broken a sweat and felt her arm having difficulty - it was shameful.

No matter how long one lived in Gensoukyou there would still be mysteries. Many beings hid themselves and their powers. There was no telling what Tokiko was, but it was clear to Yuugi that she had enough power to go toe-to-toe with her.

And that Tokiko had joined Yuugi in marrying me. They were equals in our household, but I had the feeling that Yuugi might feel uncomfortable about Tokiko and not understanding how their abilities measured up against each other.

Yuugi "So this is the home we'll all be living in from now on~"

Tokiko "It's huge! So much space!"

Or perhaps that was just a misunderstanding on the part of myself and Suika. Perhaps for Yuugi it was actually a happy thing to find someone similar in strength, even if the other girl was of an unknown species.

Yamame "Okay, since we're all here now, let's go into our new home!"

Everyone "Yeah!"

Suika "Oh, here they come."

At Yamame's signal we all entered the house.

To sum up the house Nitori, Suika, and I had built in a single word, the most appropriate would be: big. Or in two words: Very big. It was so large that it may as well be called a mansion instead of a house. We had debated over whether or not to make it western-styled like the Scarlet Devil Mansion or Japanese-styled like Saigyouji, but in the end we'd gone with Japanese-style to make the best use of the wide area of land we had.

Saigyouji served as the model for the design. Personally I would have liked the large halls and libraries that a western-style building could feature, but more than half of the girls said they wouldn't feel comfortable in such a house. As a result we went for a Japanese-style.

However we ran into several problems during construction.

First was splitting up the rooms. Considering how many people would be sleeping in the house, the number of bedrooms would obviously be quite high. While we may be married, I assumed everyone would want their privacy, so I had suggested we all have our own rooms. However the reply to that suggestion was that it would feel like we were roommates instead of man and...wives. The alternative to that would be for everyone to sleep in the same room, which would require a room of gargantuan proportions.

Yuugi "Even if we are married, why not sleep separately?"

Yuugi's simple question somehow settled the matter and we ended up doing separate bedrooms after all. If anyone wanted to sleep together they could just go to the same room. None of the rooms were designated prior to being built. Everyone would just have to decide what room they wanted after the house was finished. I'll let you imagine the outside appearance of the house for yourself - but suffice to say it is large. Even I think it's too big, and I'm the one that built it.

Of course it still was no match for the Scarlet Devil Mansion in terms of the number of rooms.

Yuugi "Ooh, this is nice."

I'd created a place for drinking at Yuugi's request. The sliding door entryway was descorated with hanging paper lanterns and a short curtain. The inside had wooden chairs and tablets, as well as a menu on the back wall. Yakitori, oden, boiled tofu, ramen, sashimi, and all the other staples of a Japanese _izakaya_ bar were listed. There were of course counter seats as well and the kitchen was visible from inside the room. A life-size Shanghai doll was busy working inside.

Ran "This is pretty good."

At Ran's request I had made a second drinking room, but was styled after a western bar instead of a Japanese _izakaya_. The inside of this room was dim and quiet - the opposite atmosphere of the other room. But it made sense that someone like Ran would prefer a more relaxed and peaceful atmosphere for drinking. Personally I think I'd prefer to sip a drink while listening to jazz in this bar rather than struggle to hear anything in the noise and bustle of the _izakaya_. The menu here included wine and the food options were more dressed up and elegant. Instead of an apron-wearing Shanghai doll, the manager of this bar wore a black suit.

Yuugi and the others who preferred the _izakaya_ atmosphere had balked at this bar.

Yuugi "Alcohol should be drunk with friends. Drinking in a dim quiet place like this would just make it taste bad."

Ran "Haa, no no... this is why you're called uncivilized. Drinking in a place such as this is about savoring high quality alcohol - it's the way an adult woman does her drinking."

Yuugi "What did you just say?"

The _izakaya_ had many beers and sake varieties - mostly Japanese - while the bar focused more on western wines and cocktails. The foods offered at the bar were also not to Yuugi's liking. Cheeses, crackers, fish meunière, pasta, and other western foods made up the bulk of it.

Well, anyways, let's leave the drinking rooms and move on to the other requested areas.

Akyuu "It's so big!"

Kosuzu "You could fit a house in here!"

Tokiko "And there are so many books!"

I built a room for reading for the three book-lovers. I'd intended to have the room inside the house, but as it turns out we had so many books and scrolls that I had to make a separate building to fit it all. Our library room became a library building. Of course the building was connected to the rest of the house by a covered walkway, so it was still easy to access it at any time. Speaking of libraries makes one think of the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but that library exists thanks to Sakuya's dimensional manipulation. In order to build a library of that size we'd need more land than the entire human village and a vast sum of funds and materials. We hardly needed something _that_ big. We would need a third of that size at best. Akyuu and Tokiko seemed very satisfied with the library, and Akyuu also mentioned that it would be perfect for her work. Several Shanghai dolls moved through the shelves sorting and maintaining the library. If the girls gave permission visitors could even borrow books from them.

And of course we were well equipped to deal with Marisa. The area around the library was filled with cameras and sensors. If an intruder or Marisa tried to approach, the library would be alerted and an automatic defense system activated. The library was armed with flak cannons, rapid-fire guns, and lasers from the outside world. They could be controlled automatically or manually. Even if someone should make it into the library, an anti-magic field around the building would nullify most of their abilities. Any attempts to take a book without permission would result in the building trapping the person inside. If Marisa wanted a book she'd have to get permission, and if she kept it beyond the due date it would be teleported back to the library automatically.

Mitori "So this is my new workshop."

A room on the first floor would be where Mitori worked. Smaller tools and appliances were already set up in the room, but the larger ones had not yet been hauled over. She wouldn't be able to do all of her work yet, but smaller repairs and building projects shouldn't be a problem. I'll likely be working here as well, so I'll no doubt be seeing a lot of Mitori. The room was constructed to be tougher than the other rooms, and also had barriers in place to protect from any barrage incidents.

Kagerou "This is a soe-larr panel? From the outside?"

Sekibanki "It seems so."

Solar panels on the outside of the building provided electricity for the house. This building needed power, as did Mitori's workshop, and all of the lights in the bedrooms and hallways also worked because of the panels. If the panels couldn't provide energy we could switch to an alternate source or turn on emergency lights, but I wanted to avoid relying on other forms of electricity.

Yuuka "And this is my new field."

I placed a field for Yuuka behind the house. Somehow even after accomodating all of the requests from everyone we'd still had land left over. And quite a bit at that. Since I couldn't think of anything else to do with the land I decided to make it all a field for Yuuka as she'd requested. Considering the size of the house and the massive field left over Akyuu must really be something. The land as it was could hardly be used for crops, but Suika was kind enough to use her powers to till the land and water it until it became useable for farming. When Suika grew in size tilling a giant field like this was like playing in a sandbox.

Yuuka "This is really... well... maybe a bit _too_ big..."

Yeah, I guess anyone would think that.

It was good to be finished, but I couldn't help but think we'd gone a bit overboard with it all. The field was fresh-made, but without equipment it wouldn't be useable for a while yet. And it's not like this field would be blessed with good weather like the Garden of the Sun. Not to mention the altitude wasn't great for flowers, and the area had tons of animals - particularly birds. Humans and youkai knew to fear Yuuka, and would therefore not mess with her field, but animals wouldn't know any better. Even fairies like Cirno, who weren't exactly the brightest, should be kept from playing tricks by the presence of Ran and the others.

It's currently fall, and therefore not a good time for growing much of anything, but hopefully come the spring Yuuka would be able to grow flowers and vegetables. Even if the weather and location weren't the best, with Yuuka it was unlikely anything was out of the question.

Yamame "Oh, there's a downstairs too?"

A basement had been built under the house. There was a root cellar for storing food, a game room for playing games from the outside world, a sports gym for exercising, and a dojo for martial arts training and sparring.

Yamame "It's a bit calming to have someplace underground for those of us who have been living away from the sun for so long."

Seija "Nobody should notice this stuff is missing."

Chen "Om nom nom"

Seija and Chen were already in the root cellar stealing snacks. Perhaps I shouldn't have built food storage down here.

Kasen "HEY! Stop that right now, you two!"

Well, they managed to anger Kasen right away. The Lecture Demon known as Kasen would no doubt lecture them for at least two hours for stealing snacks...

Kasen "You'd better have saved some for me."

No, that's not right. You're supposed to get onto them for eating our food reserves.

I sighed and gave them dried potatoes, persimmons, and meats.

In the game room there were small darts for throwing and a board with points displayed to use for the game. There was also a large table with holes, balls, and sticks for playing a game called billiards. But in sharp contrast to these games there were also games which were played on a television with controllers and games that used full body motion for dancing and singing. We'd covered a wide variety of genres.

Having been to a game center in the outside world before, Keine and Tokiko were already used to most of the games and could play them already. What I hadn't expected was Ran's skill at billiards. She got half the balls in with her first strike. She didn't miss a single time. She was also familiar with pool, carom, and snooker.

The gym was perfect for those with less physical strength like Akyuu. There were plenty of light weights and an indoor track for jogging when the weather was bad. This should stop anyone from become too sedentary.

The dojo was of course built to allow sparring. Unlike Akyuu and the others, those like Kasen and Yuugi would get no benefit from the gym weights. Their workouts would be done in the dojo, so it had been constructed larger and more sturdily. It looked to be made of simple wood, but it was actually the strongest wood in the Makai. It was so valuable that there was no way I could possibly have afforded it, but Alice's mother had sent it to us.

If she was willing to provide it for Alice's benefit, then I would make good use of it. The wood is supposedly twenty times stronger than diamond, and based on my calculations that meant it would tolerate three serious hits from Yuugi. Yuugi didn't usually go all out, so barring something happening the dojo should last indefinitely. Thanks to this material anyone would be able to work out freely without fear of breaking something. I'd actually rigged up a little something as well, but I'm waiting to reveal what it is later.

Alice "The kitchen is so large and beautiful."

And of course Alice took a liking to the kitchen. The kitchen too had been built to the highest standard. The sink was a beautiful stainless steel that would be difficult to damage or dirty. The water faucet had a lever for controlling water flow and could be moved to the right for cold water or to the left for hot water. I knew from Ran that working with water in the winter was quite painful due to the cold, so once I learned of this device existing in the outside world I got one immediately.

The stove uses propane gas. I had heard there was also something called "IH" in the outside world, but apparently it took time to get heated to the designated temperature and wasn't suited for certain types of pots, so I decided against it. Compared to that propane gas was useable immediately and didn't rely on electricity to function, which just made it all around more flexible and useful. I'd heard that having gas stoves in the outside world often helped a lot when earthquakes took down power lines.

Alice "What's this?"

Ran "It's a rice cooker. You wash rice and put it inside, then it cooks it for you."

Alice "And this?"

Keine "A kettle. It boils water. It's like a magical pot that boils water and keeps it at the temperature you set it to."

Alice "Wow, the outside world has so many convenient tools. What's this one?"

Ran "This is..."

Alice was quite excited by all of the things from the outside world. Not many of us could cook, but we could use this as an opportunity to learn. Luckily we have some people who were very skilled at teaching.

That covers most of the new house. There are still other rooms, but I'll no doubt have an opportunity to introduce them later. To be honest the house is just so big that detailing everything would be a pain.

Yuugi "This wine stuff isn't bad."

Ran "Right?"

Kasen "Won't it be nice to work such a large field?"

Yuuka "It's so large I won't be able to handle it on my own. I could really use help."

Yamame "Why don't you ask the Aki sisters? They've got nothing to do except in autumn."

Yuugi "What if Mitori made something to help? You can do that, right Mitori?"

Mitori "Eh? Well... I suppose I could."

It's now evening and we're having a banquet to celebrate the beginning of our new life.

We were in the large western-style living room. This room is wide and the roof high, making it perfect for everyone gathering together. A large table had been covered with foods prepared by Ran and the others who were skilled at cooking. The foods spanned the many regions of the outside world, from Japanese sushi and tempura, western fried chicken and roast beef, and chinese shark fin soup. The foods were all delicious and displayed the depths of the creators' culinary talents. Powerful Japanese sake and elegant wines from the outside world accompanied the foods. Everyone was eating and drinking while chatting amicably.

Yamame "I think I'll just start making some clothing. Spider's silk is tough and quite pliant as well."

Kagerou "Are you good at sewing and knitting, Yamame?"

Yamame "I've never done either, but Rinnosuke can teach me."

Rinnosuke "Hm? Sure, that'd be fine."

Alice "I'll be doing magic research as usual, as well as going into town from time to time to put on puppet shows."

Keine "And I'll still be teaching."

Ran "Don't overdo it, Keine."

Keine "I know."

Tokiko "No matter how many times I see Seija with her baby I can't get used to it."

Seija "Oh be quiet."

Kosuzu "She can make milk even with her breasts, huh."

Seija "Hey, you don't have any room to talk."

Akyuu "Let's rename Seija to Seibo. I'll make a note of it." _(Seibo = "One's real mother")_

Seija "Cut that out!"

Sekibanki "..." _Pat, pat._

Ran "That seems a good idea."

The room was filled with the sounds of laughter and talking. So this is what a cheerful feast is like.

I'm married to everyone here (except Suika and Nitori), and they're all registered as my wives, but it still doesn't feel real. It was all still fresh, and we had all been split up during the construction of the house, so now that we were all together it just felt like a normal banquet.

It was an odd feeling.

I'd been drinking with everyone at least a few times, Keine and Tokiko had lived with me for a while, and Ran was something like a parent.

And now I was married to all of them and we were gathered here together. I wouldn't have been able to imagine this happening not too long ago. I couldn't hide my surprise.

Sanae "What's wrong, Rinnosuke-san? Is the food not to your liking?"

Sanae came to sit beside me.

Rinnosuke "No, it's not that."

Sanae "Oh good. I usually only make enough for Suwako-sama and Kanako-sama, so I was worried that I might have messed up while trying to make enough for everyone."

She placed a hand on her chest in relief.

But the most surprising thing had to do with Sanae. Sanae had been pregnant as well, and had already given birth. In fact she was the one who was first found to be pregnant.

In terms of what Eirin knew medically and biologically, it wasn't possible. It shouldn't have even been possible for Keine and the others, but Sanae in particular had ballooned as the wedding approached and had given birth the day after. And she gave birth to twin girls. They both had heterochromia, so their eyes didn't match, and they both had a sprig of unruly hair that turned upwards just like Sanae's.

Rinnosuke "I started to wonder if the children would grow up faster than normal as well, but I guess not."

I was looking at the babies Sanae held as I spoke.

Sanae "Is that a bad thing?"

Rinnosuke "No, to be honest I'm just relieved you didn't pop out a hundred babies like eggs from a frog."

Sanae "Not even Suwako-sama could have that many."

Rinnosuke "I guess so."

I took one of the babies from Sanae. I was going to hold her just as Sanae had, but it felt off.

It was my first time holding one of the babies. It was a bit like holding a stuffed animal, but also nothing like it. Warm, soft, and somehow strangely calming. My tiny little child was such a weak thing in a place like Gensoukyou. Forget about dealing with youkai, she couldn't even stand yet. That went for the other children that had already been born, as well as the babies still inside of Keine and the others.

Yuugi's child had oni blood, so it already had the strength of a human child. Seija's child took after her and loved pranks. Alice's child was already in love with playing with dolls. The babies had already become friends with each other.

Rinnosuke (Am I really cut out to be their father?)

There was no changing that the babies were defenseless. Their bones weren't even fully developed and they couldn't lift themselves up. Even a wild dog would be a danger to them.

Youki said that children would grow up on their own, but that required getting them to an age where they could function. Until then it would be on us to take care of them in every way.

But perhaps I don't need to be concerned.

Keine "Oi, Sanae, where are you sitting. The seat next to Rinnosuke is reserved for me."

Keine pointed at Sanae and yelled.

Sanae "Oh, is that so? Sorry."

Sanae moved out of the seat.

Keine "When you just do what I say it's somehow even more annoying."

Sanae "Oh? Is that so?"

Keine "That! That right there. It's like you think just because you gave birth first that you're the main wife. It really ticks me off."

Sanae "That's not true at all. Though it is true that I gave birth first. Ohohoho."

Keine "Ngh! Come on Rinnosuke! We're going to make more babies before Sanae does!"

She grabbed my collar and pulled me after her.

Rinnosuke "No, no, no, no, no... even if the sun wasn't still up, and even if everyone else wasn't here, you're in your final month of pregnancy. There's no way."

Ran "Keine, are you a rabbit in heat? Calm down."

Kasen "There are children present."

Yamame "Huh? I thought rabbits were always ready to mate?"

Alice "That would mean Ringo and Udonge are always ready to mate."

Ran "It was just a metaphor."

Yuugi "Does that mean Kagerou goes into heat?"

Kagerou "Not as much as a rabbit."

Akyuu "But in any event, a pregnant woman would not go into heat as it would have an effect on the baby if she did."

Keine "Then he can just use my butt!"

Sekibanki "Your butt?!"

Seija "Don't react to the word butt, you perverted Rokurokubi!"

Yuuka "Wait, isn't Keine the bigger pervert here?"

Kosuzu "Yeah, I thought the same thing."

Tokiko "Eh? Why? What did I miss?"

Kosuzu "You're better off not knowing."

Yuugi "She didn't just drink Rinnosuke's cum, she drank his urine too."

Chen "What's urine, Ran-sama?"

Ran "It's pee."

Tokiko & Chen "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!"

Mitori "Yeah, that's too much even for me."

Everyone "Agreed."

There's no telling what ups and downs we'll face as we all live our lives together, but I can tell one thing for sure...

Keine "What's the big deal? If it's the man you love it's normal to want to drink everything, be it saliva or pee!"

Everyone "NO IT'S NOT!"

This is the most dangerous and safest place in Gensoukyou.


	12. Ch12 Isn't That Great, Rinnosuke?

The fact that I had married Keine and the others was a miracle. Of course this came about because of my own careless actions, so I had brought it on myself, but it was nevertheless beyond the scope of my belief that I would find myself married to so many amazing women. Some of them were like Keine and had feelings for me, but more than half had been little more than acquaintances that could be talked to fairly comfortably. So now we were all married and living together, but since nobody particularly hated me or any of the others not much changed. Actually thanks to us all living together now I had more opportunities to chat with the girls and get to know them better. Some of the girls hadn't really had a home before, so they were glad to finally have a place of their own.

But whoever said that miracles seldom come alone was right. It wasn't long after we all began living together that it happened.

Should it be called a miracle as well?

Eirin "Yep, they're all pregnant. Haa... congratulations." _Clap, clap, clap._

How could they all be pregnant... including Suika and Nitori...

During the party to celebrate the completion of the house Suika and Nitori had joined us - they had done a large part of the work, after all - and when the party lasted late into the night they were invited to sleep over. But still, I can't believe that's when it happened. They're both supposed to be strong when it comes to alcohol, but apparently they were't used to drinking things from the outside world. It was such powerful alcohol that I can't even remember what happened, but Eirin's diagnosis of pregnancy had to be correct - and she was certain I was the father.

I'd forgotten about Sanae being there. Sanae was the one who had prepared our food and drinks that first time as well, when the added drug had lead to our orgy, and this time too she had apparently added in that miracle touch. There was no change to the taste of anything, so nobody had noticed.

It seemed that Suika and Nitori had both been so affected by the alcohol that they had no memories of what we had done, and at some point during the night got up, dressed, and went back to bed. When they woke up the next morning they didn't remember what had happened and didn't notice any evidence either, so it was as if it had never been. Until Akyuu reported the events that occurred. In the following days the two women began to feel weird and went to Eirin for diagnosis. It was good to know the cause, but the result was another wedding to add them into the family.

Soon they'll be moving in with us.

We have plenty of spare rooms, but I worry about what will happen in the future.

The necklace of rings around my neck clinked softly. Unlike my wives I was unable to wear all of my rings at once, so I had instead strung them onto a chain to wear as a necklace. From time to time Keine asked that I wear her ring, so currently I had that one on my finger.

At some point I realized we'd never been photographed together, so I had Shameimaru come over to take a picture of us in front of our new house. She brought a tripod to help the photos come out and told everyone to take whatever pose they liked. All of my wives took poses that showed off their wedding rings.

When the picture was developed I hung it in the main living room where we all liked to gather.

But currently I'm more concerned with the future. Yesterday Keine gave birth to a girl. I wonder who will give birth next? Even immortals get tired, and I began to worry that delivering so many babies might cause Eirin to pass out from exhaustion. At this point she's a pregnancy specialist. I doubt there's a single obstetrician-gynecologist in this world or the outside world with experience like hers.

Thinking about the future makes my stomach hurt.

Tokiko "We're going to have an even bigger family. Isn't that great, Rinnosuke?"

Keine "Cut that out."

Rinnosuke "Give me a break."

Well, there goes my stomach.

The End.


End file.
